Perhaps Acura and by extension, Honda, should focus less on sports cars now?
Well, this is definitely not very good news for Acura. In case you didn’t know, Acura is Honda’s luxury arm, think what Lexus is to Toyota. Okay, so we are all familiar with the Acura NSX right? The hybrid supercar that the brand released in 2017? Well, it was never truly very popular but last year was terrible for it.
Acura sold three NSX models in January and moved one more each in February and March. For the rest of the year, the brand didn’t sell a single unit of the hybrid sports car. Why is that? Acura actually does quite well in general in the U.S after all. Does this mean the brand should “shift gears” altogether?
Moreover, let’s not go sounding alarms just yet. Remember that the Honda Civic, the Honda cousin to the Acura Integra, and its sportier version, the Type R are very in demand cars not just in the U.S but also globally. Rather I believe the brands should consider putting more emphasis on its SUVs since those are the real volume sellers.
The second generation NSX (formerly the Honda NSX in the 90’s) went on sale in 2017 and featured a twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 engine paired to three electric motors providing a total output of 573hp. Updates for the 2019 version included stiffer sway bars and software revisions as well.
The Type S (the sportier version for Acura cars) arrived for the 2022 model year and the brand limited production to just 350 units, with 300 of those for the United States that sold out in 24 hours. Powertrain updates pushed the engine output to 600hp, while the transmission got quicker shifts making it more desirable.
On top of that, an optional Lightweight Package also took the total price to a staggering USD182,500 (about RM847,256), adding carbon-ceramic brakes, a carbon-fiber engine cover, and carbon interior trim. The cabin also featured an Alcantara headliner. Are all these worth the price hike? Acura certainly thought so.
At the end of the day both Honda and Acura are wildly successful brands and will continue to sell insane volumes of their sedans, hatchbacks and SUVs, but the current market and social structures mean that the younger buyers who want cars like the NSX can’t afford it and the ones who can afford it don’t want it.
We got all this from Motor 1 and their full article is linked here. Thank you Motor 1 for the information and images.
