acura industry automotive founded march 27 1986 ; 30 years ago 1986 03 27 headquarters minato tokyo japan key people jon ikeda senior vp and general manager erik berkman executive vp acura business planning office products luxury vehicles services automotive financing owner honda website acura.com acura.ca acura akyura is the luxury vehicle marque of japanese automaker honda . 1 the brand was launched in the united states and canada in march 1986 marketing luxury performance and high performance vehicles . it was introduced to hong kong in 1991 mexico in 2004 china in 2006 russia in 2014 and kuwait in 2015 . honda s plan to introduce acura to the japanese domestic market jdm in 2008 was delayed due to economic reasons 2 and later withheld as a result of the 2008 financial crisis . 3 acura holds the distinction of being the first japanese automotive luxury brand . 4 the creation of acura coincided with the introduction of a jdm honda dealership sales channel called honda clio which sold luxury vehicles joining previously established honda verno followed by honda primo the following year . in its first few years of existence acura was among the best selling luxury marques in the us . though sales were down in the mid to late 1990s the brand experienced a revival in the early 2000s due to drastic redesigns and the introductions of new models . 4 since its inception acura has been a trailblazer in the automotive industry . in the late 1980s the success of the company s first flagship vehicle the legend inspired fellow japanese automakers toyota and nissan to launch their own luxury brands lexus and infiniti respectively . the 1990 launch of the nsx a mid engine exotic sports car offered a reliable and practical alternative to exotic european sports cars and introduced honda s vtec variable valve timing system to the north american market . the 1993 legend coup featured honda s first use of a six speed manual transmission mated to a type ii engine . in the late 1990s acura produced a type r version of its compact integra coup which featured a reduced curb weight a stiffer and lower suspension and a high output vtec engine . in the early 2000s acura introduced new models including the company s first all original suv the mdx and two models which replaced the integra coup and sedan the rsx and tsx respectively . type s versions of the rsx cl and tl were added to the brand s lineup during that decade . acura s 2005 rl flagship introduced sh awd a torque vectoring all wheel drive system . the 2007 rdx a crossover suv featured the first north american use of a turbocharged honda engine . in the 2010s acura debuted more new models including the ilx tlx and rlx the latter of which introduced acura s jewel eye led headlights . a second generation nsx was launched in 2015 and features a twin turbocharged mid engine a nine speed dual clutch transmission and sport hybrid sh awd . contents 1 history 1.1 1980s introduction of the acura brand 1.2 1990s nsx updates 1.3 2000 2003 tl rsx mdx 1.4 2004 2006 rl tsx rdx 1.5 2007 present ilx tlx rlx rdx mdx zdx 2 racing 3 marketing 4 timeline 5 current models 6 discontinued models 7 see also 8 us sales 9 references 10 external links history edit 1980s introduction of the acura brand edit 1987 acura legend following a decade of research honda opened 60 new dealerships in north america by 1986 to support its acura automobile division . acura was the first japanese luxury brand introduced under the slogan acura . precision crafted automobiles . 1 its initial offering consisted of two models the executive class legend and the compact class integra available as a five door and three door hatchback . the legend was the result of project xx a joint venture honda entered into with the uk s austin rover group . it was mechanically related to the rover 800 series while the integra was an improvement of the honda quint hatchback . 5 the success of these models particularly the legend led to competing japanese luxury brand ventures toyota s lexus that began development in 1983 as the f1 project and nissan s infiniti who began development in 1985 by revising their japan only flagship nissan president ; in the late 1990s mazda planned but never launched its own amati luxury division . the goal of the legend was to compete with rivals toyota crown and the nissan cedric and gloria but due to its 1986 introduction worldwide toyota nissan and other companies like lincoln took notice of the markets reaction to the legend and later the vigor and offered vehicles that addressed the executive size car . toyota introduced the lexus es nissan introduced the infiniti j30 and ford utilized the taurus platform and named their new sedan the lincoln continental . first generation acura integra in 1987 acura s first full year of sales they sold 109 000 cars with the flagship legend sedan accounting for 55 000 sales and the rest were of the smaller integra . by 1990 acura was selling 138 000 vehicles including 54 000 legends compared to mercedes benz s 78 000 cars and 64 000 each for bmw and lexus . 4 1990s nsx updates edit in 1990 five years after the debut of the legend and integra acura introduced the nsx a midship v6 powered rear wheel drive sports car . the nsx an acronym for new sports experimental was billed as the first japanese car capable of competing with ferrari and porsche . this vehicle served as an image car for both the honda and acura brands heralding the introduction of honda s vtec technology . the nsx was the world s first all aluminum production car and was also marketed and viewed by some as the everyday supercar thanks in part to its ease of use quality and reliability traits that were unheard of in the supercar segment at the time . with the release of the nsx acura introduced the a badge a stylized pair of calipers a tool used for exacting measurements to imply that acura vehicles are built to precise and demanding standards . the honda nsx badged as an acura in certain regions despite a strong start in market acceptance for the acura brand sales suffered in the mid to late 1990s . some critics attributed this decline in part to less inspiring designs which were re branded japanese spec hondas such as the acura vigor in 1992 . additionally during this time acura switched to an alphanumeric nomenclature formula dropping the legend vigor and integra titles following the lead of the nsx sportscar . the 1996 3.5 rl which replaced the popular legend and the vigor became the 2.5 tl and 3.2 tl and was regarded by many as the epitome of this problem namely because the alphanumeric designations were more anonymous than the former legend vigor and integra titles which had grown into their own cult followings . 6 the parent company honda was also feeling the results of the decline of the japanese economy due to the japanese asset price bubble that took place during the 1990s and into the 2000s . this period is known in japan as the lost decade . during this time the nsx also lost sales as acura made few changes from its original 1990 trim . a year later the integra sedan was withdrawn from the canadian market replaced by the market exclusive acura 1.6 el a rebadged honda civic domani . the integra sedan continued to be sold in the united states until 2001 in name only the model it was replaced with the rsx was simply a rebadged left hand drive version of the jdm dc5 honda integra . despite these letdowns acura gained prominence in the 1990s with a young group of customers tuner enthusiasts . parent company honda s reputation with this demographic as a maker of easy to tune and rev happy engines rubbed off onto acura and the integra became a popular tuner car . 2000 2003 tl rsx mdx edit the acura 3.2 tl beginning around the year 2000 acura experienced a rebirth which was catalyzed by the introduction of several redesigned models . the first of these models was the 1999 acura 3.2 tl an upscale sedan . critics suggested that although 3.2 tl did not outdo its competition in any one area of luxury cars it offered a well rounded blend of sportiness and luxury . 7 these characteristics combined with the tl s competitive price proved very popular with consumers . subsequent acura models have followed a similar philosophy of offering lots of standard equipment and very few options . first generation acura mdx another refreshed acura introduced in the early 2000s was the mdx a popular three row crossover suv based on the honda odyssey minivan . the mdx replaced the slow selling slx which was little more than a rebadged isuzu trooper . the mdx was a car like crossover suv with limited off road capability that catered to the demands of the luxury suv market . it was given top honors by car and driver in its first comparison test against seven other suvs . 8 other cars in acura s line up during this time included the 3.2 tl 3.2 cl rsx formerly the integra hatchback and the nsx . by the late 2000s acura had dropped the inclusion of engine displacement numbers in its vehicle designations retaining a simpler two or three letter designation instead e.g. 3.5 rl became rl . the 1999 2003 tl have been plagued by transmission and other problems . 9 in 2001 a new coupe badged as the rsx was introduced to the acura line up . it was a replacement for the outgoing integra . the rsx is a rebadged honda integra dc5 from the japanese market . as a result the rsx is technically a new generation of the outgoing integra . much like the integra the rsx was a hit in the tuner market . however at the end of 2006 the rsx was taken out of the acura line up subsequently in the japanese market as well . it is not known why the rsx did not continue to be sold as the integra in japan however the reason that acura gave for the cancellation of the rsx is that acura wishes to move up in the luxury brand thus can not sell a car that is mostly driven by teenagers . 2004 2006 rl tsx rdx edit a new tl debuted for the 2004 model year featuring sharp italianate styling and a 270 hp 200 kw v6 10 measured by the then current sae standards . the new tl increased sales dramatically to 70 943 american units in 2005 . also around the same time the acura tsx was introduced . it was essentially a re badged european and japanese market honda accord loaded with features . this model became the only 4 cylinder sedan in acura s line up with the exception of the canadian market acura csx which replaced the el in 2006 . 2005 acura rl in 2005 a new rl was introduced with a 300 hp 220 kw v6 improved styling and super handling all wheel drive sh awd a system capable of sending almost all of the rl s power to just one wheel in a turn . the second generation rl appeared on car and driver s ten best list for 2005 and also garnered an cnet.com editor s choice when the rl was introduced it did not perceive acura as being on par with its german rivals and expected more value from the japanese marque . the damage from honda japan s