Acura: From Humble Beginnings to Luxury

By: Jason Petrina



Acura is a line of automobiles produced by one of the largest automobile manufactures in the world, Honda. Honda, the second largest auto maker in Japan, was founded by a man named Soichiro Honda who began to work in an auto mechanics shop I Tokyo in 1922 at age fifteen. He learned the mechanics trade in full when Tokyo was devastated by an earthquake and he was one of the few mechanics left in town. His interests even led him into auto racing, building his own racer with a V8 engine previously used in a fighter aircraft. His love of automobiles had begun. Initially Honda made his mark on the world manufacturing motorcycles. His first bikes were small and resembled the mopeds popular today, but they were perfect for post war Japan, cheap to purchase and operate. Today Honda manufactures cars, trucks, motorcycles, go kart motors, ATV’s, water craft, electric generators, boat engines, lawn mowers and garden equipment. Honda makes over 14 million engines per year including diesel motors and electric hybrid cars.

With a reputation for quality production and quality control and many stories told by happy Honda owners of the cars running for decades without needing a single repair, some people think that Honda cars can last forever. All this and they are still a major motorcycle manufacturer, and makers of the luxury Acura automobile.

Acura is the high end line of Honda cars competing directly against and with Lexus, Cadillac, Lincoln and Mercedes. Honda was the first Japanese auto maker to introduce a separate line of luxury vehicles resulting in the Acura. These popular luxury cars have many fans. In fact, it is quite difficult to believe that such a luxury vehicle comes from such humble beginnings.

Honda, in creating the Acura, actually started a trend among Japanese auto makers. Until the Acura came along Japanese auto makers were known for making cars that were inexpensive compared to the competition and very well made, lasting much longer than their American and European counterparts with fewer problems. They were known to be dependable, and they were known to be reasonably priced, but they were not thought of when you thought of luxury. That class of cars included Cadillac, Lincoln, for many years Chrysler, Mercedes, BMW, Rolls Royce, Bentley, and even Audi. It had never included a Japanese car until Acura. Now Japanese cars are thought of first by many people, with the advent of Lexus and others. For many people however, the first thing that comes to mind when they think of luxury cars are Acura cars. That is perhaps the highest complement that can be paid to the Acura name.

In the highly competitive automotive industry, with the many well known and well respected names competing for the dollar of the luxury car buyer, the choices are many. Rolls Royce, Bentley, Lexus, Cadillac, Mercedes. All of these brand names have their fans and adherents. But Acura commands loyalty in a great many of these car owners and buyers. Acura has come to mean not only luxury, but dependability and comfort, all brought to you by a man who started out making motor bikes, and a company that is now the number two auto maker in Japan.

Honda plans to continue their tradition of innovation with several new implementations to upcoming Acura line-ups. Some of the trends that consumers can expect to see as early as 2007 include safety improvements and front seat side airbags as well as anti-lock brakes as standard equipment on all models. The Acura MDX is planned to come equipped with Vehicle Safety Assist.



Jason Petrina is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit - www.articleclick.com