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Honda exec says US market near capacity, could hurt subprime buyers

Is there a point in the US auto industry where companies should start considering the welfare of their customers ahead of selling more cars? American Honda Executive Vice President of Sales John Mendel thinks that level exists, and we may be getting very close to it.
According to Automotive News, Mendel believes that finding more customers in the market could require pursuing subprime buyers and offering longer-term loans. However, he refuses to use those tactics. While selling models this way can improve things briefly, the strategies hurt resale prices and lower vehicle profits over time. The company won't do "stupid things in the short-term that damage the person who bought yesterday," he said to Automotive News. "It's a very, very short-term tactic especially in the subprime area."
American Honda, which combines the Acura and Honda brands, has seen market share decline from 9.7 percent to 9.1 percent through July 2014, according to Automotive News, and Autoblog's By the Numbers stats showed it posted falling sales in five of the seven months with data this year. Though, Mendel claims that was partially because the company focused on retail sales over fleets. The delays of the launches for the Honda Fit and Acura TLX likely didn't help either.

2014 Acura RLX replaces SH-AWD with P-AWS

After teasing us with the thinly veiled concept earlier this year, Acura has officially taken the wraps off its all-new flagship sedan, the 2014 Acura RLX. Aside from its huge step forward in terms of styling and luxury, the new RLX could very well be the most advanced Acura model ever.
While the previous RL could have been one of the blandest luxury sedans of its time, the RLX builds on stylish cues introduced this year on the ILX and RDX. One of the car's signature elements is its jewel-eyed LED headlights that could end up rivaling Audi for the most distinctive in the business. The rear view of the car isn't as unique as the front, but no less attractive with LED taillights that have a slight BMW vibe and odd, chrome-ringed reflectors at the bottom of the fascia. The interior is exactly what we've come to expect from Acura with its dual-brow instrument panel and a sporty three-spoke steering wheel.
On the technology front, the RLX debuts driving features such as Precision All-Wheel Steer (P-AWS), Adaptive Cruise Control with a low-speed follow feature and Agile Handling Assist while the interior gets a high-end Krell audio system, cloud-based AcuraLink and a multi-angle back camera. P-AWS allows the RLX actively and independently adjust the angle of the rear wheels for better agility and braking. Acura ended up cutting almost 275 pounds from the RLX's curb weight (compared to the RL) thanks to the use of high-strength steel and aluminum.

2024 Acura ZDX revealed with up to 500 horsepower

The 2024 Acura ZDX electric SUV has been revealed along with many of the basic specifications. It will be available in two basic trims, the A-Spec and the Type S, and both offer fairly impressive performance and range wrapped in a package that's very similar to the Precision EV concept. The basic shape of the ZDX is quite close to the Precision, but everything has been softened. The nose still leans forward with a solid main grille, it has a floating roof, silver lower trim and a cab-rearward shape. Concessions to practicality include the conventional door-pulls and larger lower grilles for powertrain cooling. The A-Spec and Type S look pretty similar, with the main difference being wheel size: 20 inches for the A-Spec and 22 for the Type S. The A-Spec's tires are also 265-mm wide while the Type S gets 275-mm tires. And that top-trim ZDX gets the option of the Double Apex Blue Pearl from the concept, or the Tiger Eye Pearl from other Type S models. Unlike the Precision, the ZDX actually has an interior, and it does a good job of hiding its GM roots, at least at first glance. It has a low dash with slim air vents and a pair of screens for instruments and infotainment; 11 inches and 11.5 respectively. The screens are split up, and sit low behind a wraparound cowl design. Looking closer, though, and you'll see that the steering wheel and climate controls are carryover from the related Blazer EV, though that's not necessarily a bad thing. Acura has another important difference from the GM products: It will feature wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, in addition to all the Google Built-In apps. An 18-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system is standard, too. Other fancy tech includes rear emergency braking with rear cross-traffic and pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring with steering assist, automatic parallel parking and, thanks to being based on a GM platform, hands-free highway driving assist (Super Cruise by any other name). Digging beneath the surface, we find that the A-Spec will come standard in rear-wheel-drive form, quite the departure from a company with decades of front-drive history and experience. It gets a single rear motor making 340 horsepower. It will be available with a dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain that we're presuming has the same total output, seeing as Acura didn't specify a different amount. Multi-link independent suspension with fixed shocks and springs are also standard for the A-Spec.