Photo: Acura
Right now, Acura is a company adrift in a sea of premium cars. And to ankor it the the shore, cars that set benchmarks and create excitement are needed. During a recent interview on the sidelines of the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Acura chief designer Dave Marek hinted that a flagship like the NSX is not enough, that an affordable "sport car" needs to be added.
"A performance brand needs a flagship and it needs an accessible sport car. Not a sports car, but a sport car," Marek told Car & Driver.
Last time we heard somebody say "sport" instead of sportscar, it was a Subaru executive and he was talking about the BRZ. So could the guys at Acura be thinking of something along those lines? Yes, in fact C&D point the finger towards the famous Integra as the likely revival model, since this made up the bulk of their young buyers in the 80s and 90s.
Marek would not elaborate or confirm the Integra is coming back. However, he said the company will switch back to focusing on sporty models. The first glimpse of their new plan will be revealed at the upcoming LA Auto Show, where a mid-life facelift for the ILX sedan will be revealed, a 2016 model year.
"It’s not what our direction is going to be, but it’s a step in that direction,” said Marek. “There are lots of resources and activity going into making Acura back into what it was.”
The ILX is a compact sedan that was unveiled in 2012 as a 2013 model year. It's based on the Civic. It's been widely criticized for its price and choice of engines, which started with an unimpressive 150 horsepower 2-liter offered from $25,900.
Of course, there are more expensive compact sedans on the market, like the 2015 Audi A3 and the Mercedes CLA 250. But both of these come with turbo engines. Could this be why we've been hearing that Honda's 2-liter turbo, developed for the Civic Type R, is coming to the states?
We're pretty sure the folks at Acura have seen the ridiculously high sales those two models have been experiencing. But competing with the most famous brands in the business is not going to be easy.
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