Da New Yawka

Acura is lower on the food chain then Infinity in my eyes.

Infinity has RWD and they do V8 engines.

The FX35/45 is IMO the nicest looking mid size luxury SUV. The Qx56 is a nice large SUV. The G37 coupe is better then any Acura sedan.

Acura had the upper hand in the mid 2000s, car wise.

Saki GT

I agree to play in this space you need the rwd platforms, a large car platform, and a v8. Infiniti doesn't have the large car, but it does have more panache and credibility, and I think the sales show that. Acura has SUVs that sell, but it's cars just don't compete.

Jdrum1

Seems odd to have it in one but not the other......


The SH-AWD is such a great system. I went cruising in my RDX during an ice storm this last winter. 4wd pickups and suv's were struggling to get moving at stoplights. I think I surprised a number of them by being able to get rolling like I was on dry pavement. Never driven a vehicle as good on slick roads.

CosmosMpower

Acura and Infiniti are both B-tier luxury cars and their marketing is very confusing. The Q used to be their flagship now it's a mid size car and I don't think they have a full size sedan. All the sedans are Q something and the cheapest one (Q40) is an old G37. The QX56 was the ugly rhino looking large SUV and now there's a QX60 that is a newer version of the midsize JX35 SUV. Also they have the freaking Red Bull F1 car listed in their vehicle line up, WTF?


Acura took the most popular TL and made it a TLX which to me seems like a smaller car sized between the old TL and TSX. And they need to kill the RLX, not many people are going to buy a RLX over a E class Benz, 5 series BMW or A6 Audi.

JonBoy

I would love to see a Honda V8. However, actual sales disagree with your thinking and conclusion.

Acura has sold 71560 vehicles this year. Infiniti has sold 54295.

In total, Infiniti has sold 29656 cars this year across four models (avg 7414/model). Acura has sold 26074 cars this year across three models (avg 8691/model).

Acura doesn't make a coupe, which accounted for 1926 of Infiniti's car sales. The real whupping Infiniti gave was in the larger car segment, where the RLX got destroyed by the Q70. Otherwise, the TLX and ILX combined beat the Q40 and Q50 combined (24995 vs 23859), which is the bulk of sales for both marques in their cars. That's with Acura selling a car with a 4-cyl (ILX) and V6 (TLX) with FWD and FWD or SH-AWD respectively. Infiniti only offers a V6 on the Q40 and Q50 and they're RWD or AWD.

In SUVs, it's all Acura with 45486 sales this year versus Infiniti with 24639 sales. That's without a V8 or RWD, of course (all Acuras SUVS are FWD or AWD and only offer a V6).

In short, I don't see where a V8 and RWD have done anything for Infiniti. As enthusiasts, we would prefer those options but the simple FACT is that the market apparently doesn't give a rip about V8 or RWD in anything except the larger car market. Heck, I'd still argue that the RLX sells poorly because of its awkward styling rather than its powertrain - it just doesn't look nearly as good as its competitors.

A number of players (BMW and Mercedes) are moving to FWD on their entry-level models to cut costs, improve packaging and improve efficiency. Most are downsizing from normally aspirated V8s to boosted I6/V6s except in top-tier vehicles. Your "pedestrian" models that sell the most (3-Series, C-Class, A4, Q40/Q50, TLX, ATS) are all sticking with I6/V6s (boosted or normally aspirated) and/or turbo I4s.

Chris_Lum

It doesn't surprise me that the dealer was wrong, I would always take their information with a grain of salt. In my experience, many dealers (for any make) hardly know what's going on and don't know what's coming to them until they get it. There are SOME dealers who have a good relationship with corporate and so, get the inside scoops and reliable information, but most of them seem somewhat independent from corporate and don't get much more advance notice than the general public. I'd expect to get more reliable information just by posting here on S2ki Car Talk with the inquiries--at least there are some well connected people here for sure! haha

S2K Al

What is Lexus doing right that Acura and Infiniti seem to be missing? I have not done any research on this so this is purely subjective and based on my perceptions, but Lexus seems to carry more brand cache than Acura and Infiniti.

What sort of platform sharing goes in between Toyota and Lexus? I honestly don't know. Its simply not as clear to me as Civic = ILX.

WolfpackS2k

The most popular Lexus models (RX and ES) are both heavily based off of Toyota products (Camry and Highlander). Excluding the NX and LX CUV/SUV's (based off the RAV4 and Landcruiser) every remaining Lexus model doesn't platform share with Toyota (someone correct me if I'm wrong). It's interesting to note that Lexus GS and LS sales have tanked post-2008 recession. Outside of their two low end volume models I don't believe Lexus has had much recent success.

So the irony here is that Lexus gets most of it's luxury reputation from models that aren't based off of Toyotas, but gets most of its sales from models that ARE based off of Toyotas.

QUIKAG

Well said. I do think the new GS and IS models are selling pretty well, the GX sells okay. The ES and RX have always sold well. The LX doesn't sell well at all, but I love mine nevertheless. The thing is a freaking luxury tank.

WolfpackS2k

Oh definitely a tank. It's basically the Japanese G-Wagen.

And that's true about the IS - I see a lot of the new ones. Though 9/10 of them are the 250 model. Seems nobody ponies up the cash for the 350.