American Honda inches higher, thanks to Acura

American Honda Motor Co. notched another slim sales gain for December, riding heavily on crossovers and the Acura brand.

The automaker’s December sales rose 1.5 percent to 137,281 units. The luxury arm gained 13 percent in December on strong performances from the ILX and TLX sedans and the RDX crossover. Honda Division’s sales were flat, despite double-digit gains from its crossovers and the recently redesigned Fit subcompact.

For the year, Honda Division sales edged up 1 percent to a record 1,373,029 vehicles. Acura gained 1.5 percent on sales of 167,843 units, its best year since 2007 and its third consecutive year of gains.

Light trucks drove much of the year’s growth at both brands. Honda’s CR-V, redesigned in October, set an annual sales record, rising 10 percent for the year to 335,019 units. Among cars, the Accord, Honda’s best-seller, gained 6 percent for the year, and the Fit was up 11 percent. But sales of the Odyssey minivan sank 5 percent.

“Despite the price of gasoline dropping well below $3 a gallon in many markets, Honda’s strong, balanced lineup of cars and trucks helped us achieve record sales in 2014,” Jeff Conrad, Honda Division general manager, said in a statement.

Acura’s mix of crossovers rose 13 percent in 2014, helping to offset a 15 percent drop in car sales, which picked up only toward the second half of the year with the introduction of the TLX midsize sedan. The MDX three-row crossover had its best-ever sales year, with 65,603 units sold. The smaller RDX also set an annual record, 44,865 units, a slight gain from the previous year.

“The Acura MDX and RDX declared loud and clear why we call them the best 1-2 punch in the luxury SUV game, with record sales in the history of the Acura brand,” Mike Accavitti, Acura general manager, said in a statement.

“With our passenger car lineup now strengthened by the successful launch of the all-new TLX, the upcoming introduction of the redesigned ILX, and the highly anticipated NSX supercar set for its global debut in Detroit, the Acura brand is poised for great things in 2015.”

2015 Acura TLX GT Race Car in Action - Video

Last week, we talked to you about the new, 2015 Acura TLX GT racer that would be competing in IMSA’s World Challenge series against cars like the Ferrari 458, Lamborghini Huracán, Porsche 911 GT3, and more.

Honda’s latest race car is seeing action again this weekend at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and Racer Magazine was able to get the Acura’s driver, Peter Cunningham, to give us a walk-through of what makes the upcoming 2015 Acura TLX sports sedan capable of keeping up with – and, he hopes, beating! – the sportier-looking alternatives. Enjoy!

Source: Gas2

2015 Acura TLX Makes Competition Debut at Mid-Ohio

The 2015 Acura TLX sports sedan made its debut earlier this year at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) that Chris and I attended. Weirdly, despite tweeting about it frantically and taking a few pictures of the car’s advanced engine, we didn’t write an article about it then. Consider the car you see here, then – the 2015 Acura TLX GT race car – a lesson in taking Acura seriously.

Set to debut at this weekend’s Mid-Ohio World Challenge GT race, a support race for the IndyCar “main event”, the 2015 Acura TLX GT will compete in the top category of the Pirelli World Challenge, facing competition from the like of the Audi R8, Bentley Continental Supersport, Dodge/SRT Viper, Ferrari 458 Italia, McLaren’s MP4/12C GT, and the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Serious machinery, in other words.

RealTime Racing owner/driver Peter Cunningham will be behind the wheel of the new Acura, and hopes the flexible engine and willing chassis will help him overcome his more powerful competitors. “The Pirelli World Challenge has a lot of strong competitors in GT, but the TLX is the only all-wheel-drive car in the category. For our four-door sedan to be racing head-to-head with the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini … is pretty cool,” he said.

Developed from the production Acura TLX by HPD and RealTime Racing, the Acura TLX GT features an HPD-modified chassis, Honda’s Super-Handling (SH) all-wheel drive system, and aerodynamic performance parts approved for Pirelli World Challenge competition, and is powered by a direct-injected, twin-turbocharged V6 engine similar to the one used by Honda in the IMSA DP category.

“We’re excited to debut the Acura TLX GT race car in front of our ‘hometown’ audience of associates from the many Honda facilities in central Ohio,” said Art St. Cyr, President of Honda Performance Development and Vice President of Auto Operations for American Honda. “The competition in the Pirelli World Challenge is fierce … (but) Acura has never shied away from a challenge. Instead, we seek it out, both on-track and in the marketplace.”

Big words from everyone. Here’s hoping the Honda guys and the RealTime Racing 2015 Acura TLX GT can deliver!

Source | Photos: Honda.