Acura Celebrates 40 Years of Precision Crafted Performance

Acura today celebrates 40 years since debuting in America on March 27, 1986, as the first Japanese luxury car brand. With the introduction of the Legend sedan and the sporty Integra, Acura marked a turning point in the luxury car market as a brand powered by innovation, outstanding quality and reliability, and industry-leading customer satisfaction.

In conjunction with the milestone, Acura returns to its hometown race with the Acura Integra 40 Racer, a first-generation Integra tribute build honoring the brand’s first race car–the Comptech Integra No. 48–which won consecutive IMSA International Sedan Series Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ Championships from 1987 to 1990. The recreated race car was built by Honda Racing Corporation US (HRC US) and will make its debut at the 51st Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

“As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Acura brand, we’re not just honoring our history, we’re accelerating toward a future that will continue to be defined by daring innovation, a deep commitment to Acura customers and our Precision Crafted Performance brand DNA,” said Mike Langel, assistant vice president of Acura National Sales.

Taking the Lead
In the early 1980s, American Honda spied an opportunity in the competitive marketplace. The U.S. market was increasingly turning toward performance-oriented luxury products, most of them European brands, as core baby boomer customers looked to go upscale. Honda needed to intercept them before these customers left for a premium brand.

Vehicles positioned at the high end of the market didn’t fit the Honda brand image so a new division that would cater to luxury and performance – internally known as Channel 2 – was officially born on April 1, 1984, with the public announcement that Honda would market luxury vehicles. That same year American Honda commissioned the NameLab company of San Francisco to develop a unique brand name that could embody the key concepts for the new brand – precision and quality. This resulted in “Acura” – derived from the Latin root “acu,” meaning sharp or precise.

The idea of launching the world’s first Japanese luxury brand was a gamble; however, Honda, more than any other car company, had found success by defying conventional wisdom. Aimed at European luxury intenders, the Acura bet paid off with immediate success as the public responded strongly to the Acura combination of innovation and driving pleasure. In its first year on the market, Acura grew its dealer network from the initial 60 dealers in the top 30 U.S. markets that launched the brand, to 150 dealers by year’s end. Just 12 months later Acura became the best-selling luxury-performance import brand in the United States, silencing even the harshest critics and proving unequivocally that Acura could compete in the luxury car market.

History shows that Acura not only redefined the luxury car, it also permanently changed the luxury marketplace from a slow evolution among a handful of brands to fierce competition between many. In 1990, competing Japanese automotive brands followed the Acura brand into the luxury market, and established international players from Europe realized that both their product and pricing had to change to meet the new competition. 

Customer First
To distinguish the new Acura brand from Honda, new standalone Acura dealerships were constructed, starting in key markets such as Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and others around the country where luxury sales were strong. From the beginning, the idea was to make outstanding customer service a point of distinction for Acura. Acura dealerships would have to extend a level of customer service to earn the brand’s highest internal award – Acura Precision Team.  The results were revolutionary.

Acura set a new industry benchmark for customer service, earning the top spot in the J.D. Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) in each of its first four years in business, achieving what were then the highest scores in the history of the survey.

Acura Shocks the World
In 1990, Acura shocked the world with the unexpected debut of the groundbreaking NSX, a hand built, exotic, mid-engine sports car that would establish entirely new levels of performance, refinement and drivability. A rolling showcase of technical prowess famously developed with input from Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, NSX featured the first mass-produced aluminum monocoque body for a production vehicle, titanium connecting rods and the first application of variable valve timing and lift with its innovative new VTEC® valvetrain system.

The Acura “caliper” badge also appeared for the first time on the NSX. The “A” mark was designed to represent the Acura brand name, while signifying the “precision” with which Acura products were made through a design motif representing a set of mechanical calipers.

Developed and Made in America
With the establishment of a major Honda R&D product development center in Ohio in 1993, U.S.-developed Acura models began coming to market, starting with the 1997 CL, the first U.S.-designed, developed and manufactured model offered by a luxury import nameplate. Production of the all-new CL, a stylish two-door coupe, began in 1995 with sales starting the following year.

Now known as the North American Automotive Development Center (ADC), over the past three decades, Honda associates in America have led the engineering and design of Acura vehicles including many of the brand’s most popular and innovative models. The first Acura mid-size SUV, the U.S.-designed and developed MDX, was the first luxury SUV to have standard third-row seating and was named the 2001 North American Truck of the Year. MDX was soon followed by the third-generation TL, the best-selling Acura sedan of all-time, the all-wheel drive TLX sedan, the award-winning third-generation RDX and the second-generation NSX – all designed and developed in the U.S. and built in North America, using domestic and globally made parts.

Today, based on the company’s longstanding commitment to build products close to the customer, every Acura sold in America is produced in North America, using domestic and globally made parts.

Beginning the Next 40 Years
Acura recently highlighted a key new direction that will lead the brand into the future, confirming its first two-motor hybrid-electric powertrain that will power the fourth-generation Acura RDX, planned for market introduction in the next couple of years. Acura also shared a teaser image of the all-new compact SUV that is now in development leading the brand’s strategy to focus on a mix of gas-powered and hybrid-electric models to meet the needs of Acura customers.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to follow us on Microsoft Start.