California's status as the design capital of the United States is about to get one automaker richer. Acura
announced today that it will open its first design studio with about 100 designers not too far away from Honda's design
studio in Torrence.
The move echoes Toyota's decision to open a dedicated Lexus design studio in
2003, although that one was near Toyota's world headquarters in Toyota City, Japan. The news follows Acura's
announcement that it sold almost 210,000 vehicles in the United States, a record and an increase of over 5 percent.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Paul @ Jan 12th 2006 10:15AM
further proof that the american auto industry is redundant and unnecessary.
Meek @ Jan 12th 2006 10:53AM
Uhm Paul, I think this is proof that Honda wants to emphasize and separate the design of the Acura lines . . . However you comment IS proof of your personal bias.
AutoFan @ Jan 12th 2006 10:58AM
I think that Honda (Japan, not U.S.) has finally realized that Acura needs to be a completely distinct and separate brand from its parent company. My hunch is that in the future there will be distinct differences between the two, kind of like Toyota and Lexus, and what used to exist between VW and Audi.
Micah @ Jan 12th 2006 11:38AM
... and they'll suck up all those Nissan designers.
claude @ Jan 12th 2006 7:59PM
Micah,
Nissan's designers are in San Diego, and its engineering hubs in the US will stay in LA and Farmington Hills. Do you ever actually READ automotive pubs?
G. Snyder @ Jan 13th 2006 12:20AM
Autofan - what differences are you talking about with regards to Toyota/Lexus and VW/Audi? I think the differences between Honda/Acura are the same (now and always) as the differences that have/do exist between the other brands. Lexus has the most differentiation these days, but still the LX, GX, RX, and ES share platforms and egines with Toyota products. Looking back at Audi and VW (after the VW takeover) there were always shared engines and platforms, like the Dasher and Fox (heck, VW resurected the '70s Audi Fox virtually unchanged as the VW Fox in the late 80s/early '90s, 4 speed manual and all).
bert @ Jan 13th 2006 12:39AM
Amazing. Lexus was created for the US market, yet their design studio is in Japan. Who knows better about American tastes than Japs, eh?
Matt B. @ Mar 1st 2006 1:19AM
Bert,
In regards to your sarcastic comment "Who knows better about American tastes than Japs, eh?", I find that this comment requires no sarcasm. Sales of Japanese autos reflect that they actually DO know about American tastes... but I'm sure you didn't need me to inform you of the massive success such autos have seen/are still seeing.
(And yes, I know this blog entry is a bit older/dead... however, my comment still stands)
nastinupe @ Mar 9th 2006 7:41PM
Why am I seeing this blog today for the first time? But this good news for Acura. I own a 2005 Tl A SPEC and its a great car, but would be perfect if it was AWD and had real ipod integration.