Acura is reversing course in North America as the brand suffers through the shift from high-performance luxury vehicles and the cancellation of its V8 and rear-wheel-drive programs.
There is "a certain level of confusion" about Acura in the marketplace, Honda Motor Co. CEO Takanobu Ito told Automotive News at the Tokyo auto show. "We are in the midst of big changes. We've changed the direction of research and development."
It appeared that Honda finally had acquiesced to matching top-tier luxury brands with V8 and rear-drive vehicles--only to scrap those plans after the Lehman Bros. collapse and the economic tumble that followed. That has sent engineers and designers back to the drawing board, Ito said.
Read Article