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In March 2006, the Honda Motor Company celebrated a vital milestone : the 20 th anniversary of their luxury brand, Acura. Created to give Honda aficionados an opulent make that they might be proud of, Acura has successfully expanded the organization’s reach way beyond more prosaic models such as the Civic and the treaty. Today, Acura is a completely different brand than the company that was birthed in 1986. Let us take a glimpse at Acura’s past, their present line up, and what the next 20 years may bring for this esteemed Japanese automaker.

Back in 1981, Honda saw a break opening up for itself that no-one in Honda’s headquarters wanted to miss out on : building and selling expensive cars to American consumers. Mercedes and BMW were both gaining traction in the U.S. as American luxury brands Cadillac and Lincoln sputtered and lost market share. Honda was receiving widespread shopper acceptance and critical acclaim for the 3 models it was then selling in the U.S, so the decision to market dearer and upscale autos was viewed as a powerful possibility.

When Honda management decided to go with the upscale brand, they did this knowing the cars would ultimately have to stand apart from Honda to order the higher prices. Simply selling up market Hondas as Acuras would not work. Instead, each automobile was fitted out and retuned to challenge without delay against the premiere top end cars of that time.

The first two models to be sold as Acuras were the Legend, a V6 powered sedan and coupe, and the Integra, which was essentially a 3 doorway coupe based on a Honda Civic platform. Later, the NSX two seat racer was brought out to battle Porsche and the Vigor sedan was introduced to fill the opening between the Integra and the Legend.

Over time, the numerous model names were dropped and replaced by cars with 2 or 3 letter designations. The Vigor became the TL, the Legend became the RL, and the Integra the RSX. Today, the MDX SUV, RSX sport compact, and TSX sedan, join the 3 other models to comprise this Acura line up. A little smaller SUV, the RDX, will be joining Acura’s line up later in 2006.

The future of Acura looks bright in spite of powerful worldwide competition. Although Honda jumped into the market a few years before Nissan rolled out it Infiniti division and Toyota its Lexus line, Acura has trailed its Jap rivals for over a decade now. Some critics have said this misstep has hurt Acura, whilst others see it as a characteristic conservative Honda call to expand the Honda brand instead.

Future changes for Acura are dodgy, but model changes will likely include the introduction of diesel powered automobiles and more hybrid offerings. Some automobile critics have suggested that Honda has the capacity of outflanking BMW and Mercedes by manufacturing super luxury sedans and sports cars. Renowned Honda quality mixed with EU styling, luxury, and engineering have fueled Acura’s success so far. An growth of this theme to even bigger and/or sportier models could vault Acura forward.

Truly, Acura has helped reshape the first perception that many motorists had about the Japanese brands, by delivering vehicles that are high in luxury, tops in engineering, and powerful in refinement. If the last twenty years have proved anything it is that enthusiasts can expect much more from Acura over the next twenty years. Kudos to the Honda Motor Company for developing a brand that has been so well received.

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