Acura hopes NSX will prove worth the wait

Brand Sees Healthy Growth but Needs an Image Boost

SAN FRANCISCO -- When the 2017 Acura NSX sports car finally goes on sale next spring, it will mark the end of a long, strange trip for Honda's second-generation halo car. And it comes not a moment too soon for the brand.

The successor to the revered original NSX -- produced from 1990 to 2005 -- was conceived in 2006. It was shown as a V-10 concept in 2007, killed during the recession, then resurrected in 2011.

Finally, at the 2012 Detroit auto show, Acura revealed a concept version of the production car we see now. Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld plugged it in a Super Bowl ad. Yet even that version was modified, pushing the car's launch back by more than a year, to spring 2016.

After such a long, tortuous journey -- and a January 2015 unveiling that was overshadowed by Ford's 600-plus-hp GT -- is Acura worried that people's interest has waned, especially since the debut in 2012?

"I don't think so," Jon Ikeda, Acura's general manager, told Automotive News during the press launch for the 2017 model here. "Three-and-a-half years is not long in car years, though I know it seems long for some people. [The debut] may have seemed early then but we were so excited with what we had, and we really wanted to share it."

What Acura has is a new all-wheel-drive hybrid sports car. Using three electric motors and a 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6, the 2017 NSX has 573 hp, 476 pounds-feet of torque and a curb weight of 3,803 pounds and will do 0 to 60 mph in just more than three seconds.

Final pricing hasn't been announced, though it will start in the mid-$150,000s. Acura expects to sell about 800 a year once production at its Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio, is running at full tilt.

Trailing Buick

When it goes on sale next spring, the NSX will bring a much-needed jolt of espresso to sedate Acura.

While sales growth has been strong in 2015 -- largely due to a recently revamped sedan lineup -- Acura's 148,098 sales through October lag Audi's and even Buick's and are just more than half the numbers Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus are putting up.

Acura also had the dubious distinction of tying Cadillac for the biggest drop in Consumer Reports' latest reliability survey, announced in mid-October. The magazine said Acura owners complained about transmissions and infotainment systems, especially on the TLX and RLX sedans.

'Who we are'

And while many of its competitors -- particularly Lexus -- have dialed up the passion and luxury of their vehicles in recent years, Acura's sedans and SUVs remain almost too rational for a segment that depends on buyers being a little irrational.

Thus, Acura executives are understandably excited about using the NSX to jump-start its image and add sales.

"If you're looking for a way to sharpen and hone your skills to be a distinct brand that matters, the NSX really does embody all those factors," Ted Klaus, chief engineer of the NSX, told Automotive News.

That dose of excitement is overdue, Acura execs acknowledge, especially in light of Acura's enviable reputation in its early days as a builder of cars that were dynamic first and luxurious second.

"We're really ready to do that," Ikeda said of restoring Acura's performance identity. It's a point he's been reiterating since being handed the reins of Acura in July.

"If we're going to really do this and be true to who we are, we need this halo car to focus on and then going forward make sure all our cars include that performance characteristic."

Acura's dealer network will also play a role in its turnaround effort, Ikeda said.

"Now we can go into any product, anything we're doing and say, 'Are you performing on that level?'" he said. "We want our other products to reflect that and the dealership experience to be like that."

Dealers -- who will need to be certified by Acura to sell the NSX -- are also excited, Ikeda said.

"None of the dealers are sad that we're making this car," Ikeda said. "We haven't seen this commitment in a while. It's not cheap to build a car like this and its factory. So everybody's very optimistic."

Source: http://www.autonews.com/article/20151107/OEM03/311099974/acura-hopes-nsx-will-prove-worth-the-wait?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+autonews%2FEditorsPicks+%28Automotive+News+Editors+Pick+Feed%29