Text/Teng Sanmao
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Acura first originated in the United States.
First of all, in the context of the times, in the mid-1970s, the economic crisis caused the economy of the United States and other places to fall into a downturn, and automobile consumption also underwent great changes, large-displacement cars gradually declined, and Honda Automobile began to become a god with a CVCC engine. First the Civic with the CVCC engine, followed by the high-end Accord. Both cars were a huge success in the United States.
With the hot sales of models such as the Accord, Honda has a very good brand image, coupled with the recovery of the US economy, the demand for luxury cars has surged, and Honda also wants to go further - launch its own luxury brand.
(Honda CVCC engine)
(1st Generation Civic)
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In 1986, ACURA was born in the United States and launched the first legend four-door version, as well as the Integral five-door hatchback and three-door hatchback, and 60 Acura stores were officially opened, beginning the initial exploration of Japanese car companies in the luxury field.
It is worth mentioning that Lexus, which is also a Japanese luxury brand, although it claims to have started in 1983, actually did not really land until 1989. Therefore, Acura deservedly became the first Japanese luxury car brand.
(Acura Legend went public in 1986)
(Acura Legend)
(Acura Integra three-door hatchback)
(Acura Integra five-door hatchback)
At that time, Acura was completely independent of Honda's production, sales and service system, and aimed to introduce more high-end models to meet the needs of North American consumers for luxury cars.
At the end of 1986, in less than a year, Acura's cumulative sales reached 52,869 vehicles, and in 1987, it reached 109,470 vehicles, selling more than any European luxury car, becoming the national champion in the sales of imported luxury cars.
At the 1989 Chicago Auto Show, Acura released its third model, the top-of-the-line sports car, the NSX. With excellent power handling and a sporty exterior design, the NSX was named the best sports car ever by the American Automotive Media.
(Acura NSX)
In 1992, Acura launched a brand new vigor, positioned between the Legend and Integra, with a luxurious and sophisticated interior.
Soon after, the legend, Vigor and Integral were named RL, TL and RS, respectively.
(Acura Vigor)
It can be seen that from the date of its birth to the end of the 20th century, Acura's products were all cars, and it was not until 2000 that the first SUV model was released - MDX.
(1st Generation MDX)
Acura's sales in the United States have also been very strong.
In 2001, Acura sold 170,000 units a year, the first camp in the US luxury car market;
In 2005, the new Acura TL sold 71,000 units in the United States, surpassing mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4 and Japanese counterparts.
(In 2004, the new TL was launched in the United States)
In 2006, Acura's other SUV model, the RDX, was released. In the same year, the new generation of MDX was unveiled at the New York International Auto Show.
(Acura RDX)
During this period, Acura reached its peak in the US market, with annual sales of around 200,000 vehicles. In 2007, Acura's cumulative sales in North America exceeded 3 million units. This is a great achievement for a luxury brand.
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In September 2006, Acura officially entered the Chinese market in the form of imports. This is also the first time that the Acura brand has entered the market outside of North America in the 20 years since its establishment.
At the press conference at that time, Honda Technology Research Executives said that the launch of the Chinese market was the first step for Acura to go out of North America and move towards the world 20 years after its establishment. It can be seen from here that Honda is still quite confident in the market prospects of Acura.
Acura was one of the first two models to be introduced to China – the flagship RL and the midsize TL. But strangely, both cars are only available in one configuration, with guidance prices of 680,000 yuan and 430,000 yuan respectively.
(2006 Acura RL domestic listing)
(Acura mid-size car TL enters the domestic market)
In April 2007, Acura's medium and large luxury SUV MDX was launched in the Chinese market, which is also only one configuration, with a guidance price of 670,000 yuan.
(Acura MDX launched in the Chinese market)
In 2009, Acura invited The King superstar Andy Lau to speak for him. Only at this time did Acura officially enter the public eye.
Since then, Acura has successively introduced ILX, TLX, RLX, ZDX, RDX, NSX and other models to China, but until 2015, its annual sales did not break through the bottleneck of 5,000 vehicles.
(In 2012, Acura ILX was listed)
(In 2013, Acura's new generation flagship car RLX was released)
(2015 Acura TLX)
(Acura 2nd generation NSX China release)
Data show that in 2015, Acura sold 4100 vehicles a year. In the same period, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz sold 571,000, 464,000 and 373,000 vehicles respectively; second-tier luxury brands Jaguar Land Rover, Lexus and Volvo also sold more than 80,000 vehicles.
The sluggish sales volume is mainly due to Acura's overconfidence in price.
In 2006, in the year that Acura entered China, the BMW 5 Series has been domestically produced, the guidance price is 518,000-699,000 yuan, and then there are significant discounts in the terminal, and some models once reduced the price by 100,000 yuan. However, Acura, on the other hand, set the price of RL at 680,000 yuan, which is comparable to the top BMW 5 Series, and the new RL launched in 2008 has raised the price to 820,000 yuan! Models such as the RDX and MDX that have been introduced in succession are also priced higher than similar products. Between an unfamiliar Japanese luxury brand and a BBA that everyone is familiar with, it is clear that more consumers will choose the latter.
The continuous downturn in sales has made dealers unable to hold back. In 2012, nearly ten Acura dealers asked to withdraw from the network. At that time, Acura only had 40 authorized dealers nationwide.
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What to do?
Acura's solution is domestic, trying to reduce the purchase threshold and enhance product competitiveness through domestic production. So at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show, Honda suddenly announced the news that the Acura brand plans to be domestic.
In 2016, GAC Honda Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. (GAC Acura) was officially established, and Acura brand cars began to be produced in GAC Honda, taking the first step in localization.
In July of the same year, GAC Acura's first domestic luxury SUV CDX was officially launched, with a guidance price of 229,800-309,800 yuan, slightly lower than the guidance price of Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and other SUV models of the same level.
(Acura CDX domestic listing)
Domestic production has indeed increased sales. In 2016, Acura's sales in China increased by 120% year-on-year, becoming one of the fastest growing luxury brands, but the cumulative sales still did not break 10,000, only 9,062 vehicles.
In 2017, Acura ushered in a bright moment, with cumulative sales of 16,348 vehicles, of which the sales of CDX cars reached about 15,000 units.
From 2017 to 2018, Acura launched the second domestic car TLX-L, and the third domestic car RDX, almost the rhythm of a new car a year.
Among them, Acura TLX-L has been specially extended for the Chinese market, but it has not set off much waves after listing, and the peak sales volume is only more than 600 vehicles per month at the beginning of the listing.
(In 2017, Acura released its second domestic car TLX-L)
(In 2017, Acura TLX-L domestic off-line)
This was followed by a decline in Acura's sales in China.
From a macro point of view, in 2018, the long-term high-speed growth of China's auto market began to enter a downward trajectory, and the decline in sales seems to be a normal phenomenon. However, specific to the luxury car segment, its demand remains strong. Looking at it this way, Acura seems to be a bit unspeakable.
This year (2018), Acura's domestic sales fell to 7337 vehicles, which is far from the previous goal of hitting 50,000 vehicles in 2018.
After that, in 2019 and 2020, Acura finally made great efforts again, and sales exceeded the 10,000-vehicle mark, with 14,786 and 11,193 vehicles respectively. Unfortunately, in 2021, the decline accelerated, with sales falling by 45% to only 6554 vehicles. In the same period, the Japanese luxury brand Lexus, the annual sales in China exceeded 200,000 vehicles.
(2018 Acura RDX domestic listing)
From the product point of view, since 2019, Acura has not launched a new model of localization, but only iterates and upgrades on the basis of existing domestic models.
Industry insiders believe that first-line luxury brands have more mature brand power and product system, and in recent years, the price is still declining, and the investment in marketing and technology is also very large, and second-line luxury brands can only survive if they pay more.
But obviously, Acura didn't pay enough.
Moreover, under the aura of imported cars, Acura did not form the expected high-end brand recognition, the popularity was low, and the price was high. As a latecomer, after localization, Acura has not really distanced itself from the price of BBA, and it is difficult to attract consumers.
In addition, when it comes to the characteristics of luxury cars, the first thing people can think of is "riding a Mercedes-Benz", "driving a BMW", Audi technology, and Volvo's safety. So, what about Acura? In fact, Acura has been trying to emphasize the control, but it is difficult to bypass BMW, and the overall characteristics are not obvious.
And there is also a detrimental effect that Acura is often ridiculed as the "King of Chang'an". Because Changan's car logo and Acura are indeed very similar, although the direction of the opening is different, it is often misunderstood at first glance. I have met a few times, driving acura test car into the parking lot, the security brother will be curious to ask: How much is your Chang'an? I don't think I've seen it before... Such embarrassment will also affect consumer choices to a certain extent.
Although it encountered Waterloo in the Chinese market, in the North American market, Acura's performance is still quite good.
According to the data, in 2021, Acura sold a total of 157,000 vehicles in the United States, second only to BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Audi, ranking fifth in the sales list of luxury brands in the US market, and beating luxury car brands such as Cadillac, Infiniti, Volvo and Land Rover.
But in any case, Acura is indeed a bit unsustainable in the Chinese market. Although some cars are very easy to drive, consumers also like, especially the four-wheel drive version, but the sales can not go up. The reason for this really cannot be simply explained by "water and soil dissatisfaction".
Some time ago, some media reported that Acura "is about to withdraw from the Chinese market, and dealers are waiting for the final notice of the manufacturer.".
Acura's first step into the global market was ultimately defeated by reality.
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