Acura is taking bold steps to differentiate itself in a crowded luxury car market. Among them, a new crossover model will be introduced in China and a reboot of the marque’s controversial styling is in the works.
After revolutionizing the idea of Japanese luxury upon its inception in 1986, Acura quickly earned a stellar reputation amongst critics and consumers alike with models like the Integra and Legend. However, for the last decade its fallen out of critical favor due to polarizing styling and a pull-back from sporty handling.
While the brand is still viewed favorably with consumers, it has struggled to achieve even half the sales of rivals such as Lexus and BMW, even as its mainstream parent company Honda’s cars approach Acura-levels of performance, styling and content. Acura has faced particular hardship cracking the Chinese market where, according to Automotive News, it has sold just 4,000 cars in 2015 (compared to BMW’s 460,000).
To rejuvenate the brand, Acura has announced a new compact crossover in China. The segment is just as hot in the world’s largest market as it is in the US, and Honda thinks it can move 30,000 of them annually. Likely based on the new Honda HR-V and rumored to be debuting at the Beijing Auto Show in April.
The new model could be the first production car to be wrapped in Acura’s new styling language, will debut on the Precision Concept to be unveiled in Detroit next week. According to the company, it will be aggressive, further differentiate the brand from Honda, and ditch the much-maligned robotic parrot beak grille.
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