It appears that Acura will remain banished from its homeland for the foreseeable future, despite Honda claiming nearly two years ago that it would begin selling its luxury brand in Japan by 2008. At the same meeting this week during which Honda CEO Takeo Fukui announced that there'd be a redesigned Fit come year's end, he also revealed that an Acura would now not be sold on the nation island until around 2010, or "two years or so from its original plan of fall 2008." It seems that with sales way off in the Japanese home market, Honda would rather focus its resources on aligning its current Honda dealerships into a better integrated network, as well as establishing larger dealerships in heavily populated metro areas, no doubt in order to move more of those popular minicars. We doubt larger vehicles like the MDX (shown above), would fare as well in Japan as they do in the U.S., anyway.
[Source: Ward's Auto]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bryan @ Jul 19th 2007 7:05PM
Looks like Gm, Ford, and Chrysler aren't the only ones having trouble in their home country.
Friendly @ Jul 19th 2007 7:50PM
Of course they are you idiot!! This is autoblog!!!
1337 @ Jul 20th 2007 10:35AM
Friendly,
I see some irony in your name and the temperament of your comment.
iQuack @ Jul 19th 2007 11:22PM
Honda's subcompact cars--especially the FIT--are popular in Japan, but not larger Hondas.
When I was in Japan in late 2005, I saw very few Civics, Accords (like the European Accord and our Acura TSX) and only one or 2 Honda Inspires (our Accord is the Inspire there).
Most of the mid-sized sedans were Toyotas, Nissans, and Mitsubishis. So, could be that the Japanese don't view Honda as a company from which to buy larger vehicles--quite unlike Honda's reputation in the U.S.
Nick @ Jul 20th 2007 1:23AM
It's not really a big deal, as most know, larger cars are not as popular in Japan, I have been there many times. Most japanese people enjoy smaller compact cars to midsize sedans due to strict government regulations on larger cars and very dense populations. Honda should stick to selling hondas and only hondas in japan and improve its compact segments as much as it can in that country. The japanese enjoy condensed efficiency much more than large luxury.
Rboyett @ Jul 20th 2007 9:14AM
Most Japanese do not "enjoy" smaller cars. They buy kei cars because they don't have to prove they have a parking space to own one. They also get the tax breaks you mentioned.
Buyers Non Kei cars (a Mazda Miata is too big to be a kei car) have to prove they have a place to park them before they can buy one and they pay higher taxes. My father in law has an older Nissan Skyline which many Japanese drool over. Other extremely popular cars include the Toyota Crown which is about the same size as a Lexus LS460.
Andy @ Jul 20th 2007 1:43AM
Toyota sales are at a rough patch, and Lexus is struggling in the Land of the Rising Sun. I like the RDX. It's nimble and sharp. It's not as bloated as the Infiniti FX35. It's the only Acura I would consider buying (if I had the money).
Rboyett @ Jul 20th 2007 9:07AM
Just some things to note:
The Acura RL and TSX are already sold in the Japanese Domestic Market as the Legend and Accord Euro. The TL, RDX and MDL are American (and designed for the American market)