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teo409
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Well, in my opinion Acura messed up once again in their marketing strategy. They shouldn't have made the 04 TL so sporty in the first place. They should've made the ride even softer than the previous TL but still stable for all those moms and old fogies out there that want an alternative to the ES300, CTS, C-class and 3 Series. Bymaking the 04 TL more of a sport sedan I think that they will lose a lot of conservative drivers that don't want to feel the road, those who want to be numb to the whole driving experience. They then should've done a suspension package for buyers like us that would stiffen and slightly lower the car. Then they should've kept the body kit what it is--a body kit. And badges, we don't need no stinkin badges. And for the HP junkies out there, they should take a note from BMW and Merc and develop a performance division ala M, AMG, SVT, Mazdaspeed, Audi's S cars and etc. Give the performance versions of the TL, TSX, RSX different motors and other significant upgrades. But what would they call these versions? I dont' believe they could tack on another series of letters, that would be absurd. That's what I think they should've doing all along.
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purplesage
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Last I checked, Honda was still a profitable company, and their overall sales in the US were increasing.
I'm not convinced that Honda's marketing strategy is broken.
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teo409
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I didn't say it was broken. I meant that it could have been better.
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Bollocks
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As the thread title says, you said that acura "messed up again".
For a company that has messed up at least twice, their sales increases are astonishing. Must be those crooked dealers robbing those unsuspecting G35 buyers of their hard-earned money...
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ULEV VTEC
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Teo409, I feel the same way you do when I first saw the 2004 TL. I thought, there are more older rich conservative drivers on the road as there are rich younger drivers. The 2004 TL's exterior looks cheap and doesn't look like a $30K entry level luxury car. I have seen alot more ES300 on the road as of late.
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D_Ken22
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Take a note from Audi, BMW, and Merc those companies performance versions cost at least $44,000. Those other companies, you can't really be serious about. Yes, that approach is ideal but it drives up cost.
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Accordian
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Because Acura and Honda offer less models per class than most of their competition, their cars either have to 'don multiple caps' or target one specific kind of model.
This approach generates 'Jack of all trades, master of none' kind of cars. Take Infinity, for example. The TL has to work against the GS AND the I series. Even BMW has a regular and an M version in the 3 series. O.k., some of the 'pressure' has been taken off by the TSX.
Acura looks to be going the sportier way and trying to slot their cars between the sportier and the more luxurious models of the competition in the same class. The RL seems to be the only model in the line up which suits those wanting a cushy ride.
What the heck, the numbers of TL sales in the last 2 months do not seem to indicate any 'messing up'...
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teo409
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Well I guess I was a little harsh with the title but I still stand by the fact that they are using the wrong approach to get where they want to be, "a performance oriented, luxury car company".
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JeffX
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Acura's stated mission rests on 3 pillars: Dynamic Design, Exhilarating Performance, and Precision Craftsmanship. This is what their message is today. By this statement, luxury is not one of the top priorities.
I'm not sure where your perception that they "want to be a performance oriented luxury car company" has been established.
teo409 wrote:
Well I guess I was a little harsh with the title but I still stand by the fact that they are using the wrong approach to get where they want to be, "a performance oriented, luxury car company".
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akal50
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Conservative drivers who want a numb driving experience never went for Acuras to begin with. From that standpoint, Acura hasn't lost customers since it didn't really have them to begin with. But what they realized with the last TL was there were a lot of potential customers out there who wanted a sporty sedan that could rival BMW. The big complaints about the last TL was that it wasn't sporty enough, it offered no manual transmission, and it looked too conservative. So Acura responded accordingly. I think Acura is doing the right thing. Instead of trying to be a little bit of everything for everyone, they're focusing on what they're good at.
If there's anything wrong with Acura's marketing, it's in the advertising. I still don't see many commercials and the ones I have seen aren't good. Showing some weeny looking guy passing a car dropping cash doesn't make the car look good. It just makes the driver look like an idiot.
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vtechbrain
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I agree, the comercial I have seen is a dud. They should hire the british company that does their honda commercials over there. Those guys do seem to have their duckies in order. The accord commercial of everything works is an advertising classic!
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