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It is also planned to extend Acura to the Japanese domestic market in 2008. With the Acura brand, Honda is credited with being the first to tap into a market for luxury Japanese cars outside Japan. Before Acura, automobiles exported from Japan were primarily economical in design and largely targeted at low-cost consumers. The Acura BrandIn 1986, following a decade of research and development, the Honda Motor Company opened 18 all-new dealerships in North America to support its Acura luxury-automobile division. Acura was the first Japanese luxury brand to appear, and its initial offerings consisted of four models: the Legend, a V6-powered coupe and sedan, and the Integra, available as a five-door and three-door hatchback . The success of these models led to competing Japanese luxury brand ventures (Toyota's Lexus and Nissan's Infiniti). Vehicle historyIn 1990, four years after the debut of the Legend and Integra, Acura introduced the NSX, a midship V6 powered, rear-wheel-drive sports car. The NSX, an acronym for "New Sports eXperimental", was billed as the first Japanese car capable of competing with Ferrari and Porsche. This vehicle served as a halo car for the Acura brand. The NSX was the world's first all-aluminum production car . Despite a strong start for the Acura brand (in terms of market acceptance), sales suffered in the the mid- to late 1990s. Some critics attributed this decline in part to less inspiring designs. Additionally, during this time Acura switched to an alphanumeric nomenclature formula, dropping the Legend and Integra titles. The 1996 3.5 RL, which replaced the popular Legend, was seen by many as the epitome of this problem, namely because the RL designation was more anonymous than the former Legend title . Also, the RL's 210-horsepower V6 (later increased to 225 hp) and front-wheel drive, together with styling that cautiously copied the larger and more powerful Lexus LS 400, did little against BMW, Audi, and Lexus, and other competitors. During this time, the NSX also lost sales as Acura made few changes from its original 1989 trim. Despite these letdowns, Acura gained prominence in the 1990s with a young group of customers: tuner enthusiasts. Parent company Honda's reputation with this demographic as a maker of "easy-to-tune" and "rev-happy" engines rubbed off onto Acura, and the Integra became a popular tuner car. Beginning around the year 2000, Acura experienced a rebirth which was catalyzed by the introduction of several redesigned models. The first of these models was the Acura 3.2 TL, an upscale sedan competing with the likes of the Lexus ES, Infiniti I30, and BMW 3-series. Critics suggested that although 3.2 TL did not outdo its competition in any one area, it offered a well-rounded blend of sportiness and luxury . These characteristics, combined with the TL's competitive price, proved very popular with consumers. Subsequent Acura models have followed a similar philosophy of offering lots of standard equipment and very few options.
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