When we talk and think of Japanese luxury cars, there's this one brand that always comes to the surface of our minds: Acura. Flourishing under the Honda umbrella, Acura made a mark in the industry by giving Honda the brownie points for being the first to present the market with Japanese cars outside Japan. Prior to Acura's debut, imported vehicles from Japan are modestly designed and generally focused on penny-prudent customers.
The fruits of a decade of painstaking research and development were harvested by the Honda Motor Company when 18 brand-new dealerships mushroomed all over North America, supporting its Acura division. Emerging as the first Japanese brand, Acura proudly presented their initial models: the Legend and the Integra, a V6-powered coupe and sedan. The success of these models swept the car industry with a bang, and it paved the way for the introduction of other Japanese car competitors such as Toyota's Lexus and Infiniti from Nissan. The world's first-ever all-aluminum production car was also manufactured by Acura, the NSX, a rear-wheel-drive sports car supported by a midship V6.
Yet, though Acura enjoyed a very successful jump start, their sales took a dive around 1990s. Expert motorists and critics attributed this decline to less awe-inspiring models and Acura's decision to drop Legend and Integra titles, replacing them with alphanumeric nomenclature formulas. During this period, even the Acura NSX sales took a dip since Acura made very minimal modifications from the original 1989 model.
And still a silver lining lurked over Acura's dark eras: it was also during this time that Acura bagged prominence with a specific bundle of customers, ?the tuner enthusiasts. Acura's parent company, Honda, has a reputation of manufacturing engines that are ?easy-to-tune? and are rev happy and Acura benefited from this well-deserved reviews and the Integra became a well-loved tuner car.
Early on in the year 2000, the introduction of a few redesigned models became a huge turning point for Acura. The 3.2 TL model (a pricey sedan was designed to rival models such as Infiniti I30, Lexus ES, and the BMW 3-series. Displaying a balance between sportiness and luxury, the TL's well-rounded design and competitive price snatched customers from rival models and revitalized their reputation. Models following the 3.2 TL followed the same principle of various standard equipments and minimal options.
Today, Japanese automobile manufacturers are basking in the reputation of building good quality cars? and this is largely due to the glowing reviews and praises that Acura parts gleaned from its consumers. And since Acura is under Honda, it is a given that a lot of details, planning and focus are involved when it comes to producing Acura parts. Vehicles under the Acura brand are engineered with high standards and tip-top quality, hence their well deserved reputation for reliability.
Japanese vehicles have smaller, more efficient designs than automobiles from other countries such as Europe or America. But even with these differences, they do not pose a threat to passenger safety. Vehicles from Acura are tested and proven not only reliable, but safe cars. And why shouldn't they be? They're made up of strong and durable Acura parts. Acura models have become a favorite in the tuner culture, so a variety of modifications and customization can be done to the Acura parts.
