Car Throttle

The Chicago Auto Show is coming next month, and while the show doesn't usually see a ton of major introductions, Acura is confirming a new launch for the show. Historically, the TL has been a hot-seller for Acura and overall in the United States luxury market. The redesigned model for 2009 has seen things stagnate however, with a styling language that (understandably) hasn't resonated well with consumers. It still ranks as the brand's second-best selling model however, making it an important part of the brand's portfolio. A "newly refined" model is set to debut on February 9, 2011, introduced by Jeff Conrad, vice president of Acura's sales. The new car most likely will offer a big hint if Acura is going to really move

Cadillac and Infiniti have been increasingly aiming for their German competition as of late. The CTS and M, as mid-size models, are both crucial to each of their respective manufacturers in achieving that goal. Safety is a highly important aspect for customers when purchasing a new vehicle, and all luxury manufacturers aim to score well (and usually do). The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has announced that the Cadillac CTS and Infiniti M are Top Picks for 2010. This in particular is a pretty impressive new entry for Infiniti, showing the brand has really advanced in the area of safety. The CTS has been picked for this award before, showing continued excellence. The Top Pick status comes after passing new, more stringent roof testing standards. The CTS

Acura just rolled out the new 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon at this year's New York Auto Show. They are going to sell this ride in America, and I don't see anything wrong with that. What I do see as being a bump in the road is whether American's will buy it or not. One of the things that I like about cars and driving and people's attitude towards cars in Europe, is that they can do something like make a super-fast very elegant station wagons. Think of Audi's Avants and such like. Americans, on the other hand, don't like station wagons very much. They have a stigma over here. They are seen as being a rung below minivans, and minivans are a rung below SUVs,

Test vehicle: 2010 Acura MDX 3.7L V6 with 6-speed automatic transmission One of the trends from the past decade has no doubt been luxury SUVs. Even Porsche dived head first into the market with the Cayenne, with Acura has releasing its competitor into the marketplace - the three-row Acura MDX SUV. Since its introduction it has been critically acclaimed, being Car and Driver's Best Luxury SUV in 2005 and winning Motor Trend's Sport/Utility of the Year Award in 2005, in addition to coming out on top in many other comparison tests. The MDX was fully redesigned in 2007 and received a Mid-Cycle Enhancement (MCE) for the 2010 model year. Is it everything it is cracked up to be? To find out the answer, CarThrottle tested the MDX for a week,

Acura's latest product, the "four door sports coupe" ZDX, is set to go on sale December 15th of next month. With the on-sale date fast approaching, the company has released pricing information and fuel mileage estimates on the ZDX. This follows BMW's release of pricing information for the 5-Series Gran Turismo. Acura has chosen to price the ZDX right in the middle of the $40K-range, coming in at $45,495. At that price, standard features include "the world's longest panoramic glass roof" and a hand-stitched leather dash, center console and door panels. The ZDX comes available with one engine across the lineup - a 3.7-liter VTEC V-6 that provides 300 horsepower and 270 foot pounds of torque mated to Acura's Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD). It also achieves class leading

Last month, the ZDX made its first appearance as a production model at the Orange County Auto Show. The release included some of the details that have been missing from past announcements.

A new "category" is emerging in the United States for vehicles that just refused to be categorized (if that makes sense).

BMW arguably was the starter of this "segment" when it introduced the X6 coupe-like crossover. The BMW 5-Series GT and BMW X1 are other vehicles that have followed after the X6.

Now Acura has entered the fray with its new ZDX crossover. Like many others,  I expected the ZDX to be a volume model for Acura. Speaking with Acura's PR department however revealed a sales projection of only 6,000 units per year. While  internal projections

Honda hasn't exactly been on a product rampage lately. Stylistically the recent cars from the Honda brand haven't been hits, but even more lately than usual - the CrossTour Crossover in particular. The latest product  from Acura, the ZDX crossover is good looking and seems to have the makings of a winning product inside and out. The next product in the pipeline looks like a winner as well. Honda has just made an announcement that the Accord Wagon will be coming to the United States. Not as an Accord mind you, but as an Acura. The smaller European market (shows you the size difference versus ours) Honda Accord is badged on our shores as the Acura TSX and is virtually identical. Could the wagon be making a comeback?

I'll be the first to admit that I simply don't understand the direction "crossovers" are traveling in. It seems like they're becoming less and less useful, and more and more like rolling fashion statements - for fashion victims.  Or the fashionably ignorant.  Anyway, while it's fun to revel in shock at the fact that this segment of gas-guzzlers hasn't died out yet, that's not news.  That's an opinion.  What is news (apparently) is this new Acura ZDX. Let's start off on the right foot here: dumb name begats dumb car?  I know the theory might be a stretch - there have been some awesome cars with awful names (Acura's own Integra comes to mind) but let's take a vote: who's tired of meaningless alphanumeric model designations?  Why

Acura is definitely in a difficult place right now. It's struggling to have a true identity in the competitive luxury field. Honda has set high goals for it but is apparently not following through on giving the brand the tools it needs to succeed. I don't see FWD vehicles cutting it if it wants to really compete with Mercedes and BMW (and that goes for Cadillac). If it doesn't want to, that's fine - but then go after Lexus or something. The NSX was an amazing (and out of character) vehicle for Acura. It put Acura's name up there with true supercars, V6 power and all - a car befitting of the higher aspirations that Acura had. What happened? It was left to die with no replacement. Audi

Brands in the US come and go, seemingly with the changing of the seasons. The fact is we have a fairly volatile marketplace - much more prone to fluctuations of consumer needs and wants seemingly on a day-to-day basis than most other markets.  When gas is cheap, we buy pickups with 6.0L 400bhp V8's.  When it's expensive, we buy every Prius and Jetta diesel we can get our hands on.  We're a fickle market. So it's always a huge gamble launching a new brand in the States.  Sometimes it goes very well - see Malcolm Bricklin's experiment of selling funny little Japanese runabouts in the US in the late sixties, quirky two stroke things called Subarus.  Mitsubishi took a big gamble when they entered the US