Car Auto Online | Acura | Acura is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Honda Motor Company. The Acura brand has been available in the United States, Canada and Hong Kong since the March 1986 sale of luxury and performance vehicles and the automotive division in the vicinity of performance.
The brand was introduced to Mexico in 2004 and to China in 2006. However, Honda's plan to introduce Acura to the Japanese market have been repeatedly delayed due to economic reasons: the planned 2008 launch was delayed for 'about two years or so' and then in a December 17, 2008 announcement from Takeo Fukui, CEO of Honda, the original plan was withheld as a result of the 2008 financial crisis around the world and economic recession that resulted.
Following a decade of research, Honda opened 60 new dealerships in North America by 1986, to support its Acura automobile division. Acura was the first Japanese luxury brand to be introduced, and its initial offering consisted of two models: the executive class Legend, a V6-powered sedan, and the compact class Integra, available as a five-door and three-door hatchback. The Legend was the result of Project XX, a joint venture Honda entered into with the Austin Rover Group of Great Britain and was mechanically related to the Rover 800 series, and the Integra was an improvement of the Honda Quint hatchback.
The success of these models, particularly the legend, competition has led to the Japanese luxury brand companies (Toyota's Lexus, which began development in 1983 that the proposed F1 and Infiniti from Nissan, which began development in 1985 Japan just check its flagship Nissan President in late 1990, but never planned Mazda launched its own Amati luxury division).
The purpose of the legend was in competition with rivals Toyota Crown and Nissan Cedric and Gloria, but since its introduction in 1986 of the world, Toyota, Nissan and other companies such as Lincoln noted the market's reaction to the legend, and later force and vehicles offered that approached the size executive car. Toyota has Lexus, Nissan introduced the Infiniti J30 and Lincoln used his new platform called Taurus sedan and Continental.
In 1987, Acura first full year after the sale they sold 109,000 cars with its flagship sedan Legend sales represented 55 000 and the rest were from the smallest Integra. In 1990, Acura sold 138,000 vehicles, including 54,000 Legends, according to Mercedes-Benz '78 0000 cars and 64,000 for the BMW and Lexus. - CAR REVIEW