V8s and RWD a No at Honda

Honda is a company that has stuck to a pretty consistent philosophy over the years. They've been known for reliability and economical sensibilities. Not much to be excited about, but you know you could depend on them. I'll admit to never being a Honda fan though, especially with the styling we've seen recently - Element, Ridgeline, Accord to name a few. Acura? Even worse.

For a while Acura has seemingly faded from the luxury scene, occupying a rung below the segment leading brands.Acura really isn't on the shopping lists of serious luxury buyers and sales have reflected that.

Understandably, Honda isn't happy with the results and is starting a new push to make Acura a viable contender in the luxury segment. The aim is to make Acura a Tier 1 luxury brand. If you do it right, the luxury segment can be very profitable because you can charge high prices. It's a hard slog to the top.

Problem is, I don't see the company making any of the moves necessary to reach that goal. The previous president of Honda, Takeo Fukui instituted a plan to develop a V-8 engine and RWD architecture for the Acura brand.

Now Honda Motor Co. has a new president, Takanubo Ito who isn't on board with that plan. He had this to say in his first press conference: "I don't think we need a classic front-engine, rear-drive car. It would be meaningless to emulate what other companies have done for more than five decades." He must not think Honda needs to have a viable, Tier 1 luxury brand either......