Mexican Media Brands
Honda Makes Acura a Separate Division in U.S.
Honda Motor Co. will split its Acura and Honda brands in the U.S. into separate divisions on April 1.
#Acura
Share
Honda Motor Co. will split its Acura and Honda brands in the U.S. into separate divisions on April 1.
The move will give Acura its own management team and separate sales and marketing staff for the first time since Honda launched the luxury marque in 1986.
Honda says the restructuring intends to build a sharper distinction between the two brands. Last year Acura sales in the U.S. rose only 6% to 165,400 units in a market that expanded nearly 8%. Acura's growth rate in 2013 compares with 14% for Audi, 10% for BMW, 22% for Cadillac, 12% for Lexus and 13% for Mercedes-Benz.
The new Acura Div. will be led by Mike Accavitti, currently head of U.S. marketing for both brands. The Honda Div. will be headed by Jeff Conrad, currently general manager of Acura sales. Both men will be promoted to senior vice president and general manager of their respective units.
Last month Honda announced several other management changes in North America. One of them was to appoint Honda R&D Americas President Erik Berkman to head a new Acura business planning office, also effect April 1.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Autoline After Hours in NYC
The 2016 New York International Auto Show is open to the public right now, but last week it was opened just to the press, where several vehicles were introduced, like the 2017 Prius Prime, a plug-in variant of the non-plug-in Prius hybrid.
-
TLX Reset
For the 2018 model, Acura designers and engineers made changes to the sport sedan that go beyond a typical refresh. Here’s why and how.
-
Mercedes Unveils EQC, an Electric Crossover
“A dawn for a new era of our company.” That’s how Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Cars, described the EQC at the vehicle’s official introduction at an event in Stockholm today. “It is the complete package,” he said, ticking of the boxes for design, usability, serviceability and convenience.