Honda is hoping to accelerate the revitalization of its Acura brand by opening a new office devoted to the development and planning of new Acura vehicles.
Current Honda R&D president Erik Berkman will manage the new team, which is officially being called the Acura Business Planning Office. The news comes after a 10 percent drop in Acura’s sedan sales, overshadowing the successful RDX and MDX crossovers.
Acura’s bounceback may already be on the way as both the TLX sport-sedan and NSX supercar are slated for a release later this year. A performance-oriented identity may be possible for the brand as both of these cars will be racing in future events. A TLX race car will be competing in the Pirelli World Challenge, while the NSX will be seen in Japan’s SuperGT racing series.
The brand’s main competitors (Infiniti, Audi, BMW and Mercedes) are also maintain active racing presences, the company will also have to create some exciting vehicles with key differentiation from those in the Honda lineup, something that hasn’t happened with recent new sedan launches.
