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This is why Acura hasn't yet announced its EV strategy

Despite parent company Honda's green and friendly brand image, luxury marque Acura hasn't made a grand statement about electrifying their lineup. Even as brands like Jaguar, Land Rover, Bentley, and Infiniti pledge to entirely electrify their lineups in the coming decade, Acura has held back. The reason, according to Acura head honcho Jon Ikeda, is that it's focusing on reestablishing itself as a performance brand. In a wide-ranging interview with Automotive News, Ikeda says Acura came out of the gate strong in 1986 and did well for the first 20 years, but when the bottom fell out of the market in 2008 the brand experienced "growing pains." That spawned a period of self-reflection and, as Ikeda puts it, "What are we about?" The decision was made to go back to Acura's roots as the performance division of Honda. "That's what Acura is. That's what I fell in love with," Ikeda says. Ikeda joined Honda in 1989, but his promotion to Acura boss in 2015 was a surprise to many, including himself. That's because Honda had a tradition of putting engineers at the helm, and Ikeda was a designer, responsible for the looks of such cars as the FSX concept, 2001 Civic Coupe, and beloved 2004 Acura TL. 2021 Acura TLX Advance View 38 Photos When asked by AN whether Acura is worried that luxury competitors are putting stakes in the ground to claim EV brand identities, Ikeda says no. "For us as a brand, we needed to kind of refocus and reestablish ourselves as a performance brand... We want everybody to understand where we are, what we're about first. Even if we go electric we will continue to be a performance division of Honda and performance will be our focus." To earn its performance street cred, Acura poured resources into the second-gen NSX hybrid supercar, which served as testbed for how electricity can work harmoniously with performance. They will continue to campaign IMSA race cars to earn trophies as proof, and Ikeda also wants to bring more Type S models to the lineup. Ikeda says Acura is still in the process of rebuilding its foundation, but when he's done he expects people to associate Acura with performance. That sure seems ambitious to us, but products like the new TLX are a helpful stepping stone. It also explains why Acura is investing in different platforms to differentiate itself from Honda. To be clear, Ikeda isn't ruling out electrification.

Driving the GMC Hummer EV and Mercedes-Benz EQS, EQE, EQS SUV | Autoblog Podcast #750

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. This week, they talk about driving Mercedes' fleet of EQ electric vehicles, including the EQE Sedan, the AMG EQS Sedan and the EQS SUV. They also talk about piloting the Acura NSX Type S. Next, they discuss the reveal of the 2024 Maserati GranTurismo, including the all-electric Folgore trim, as well as the Ferrari SP51 roadster. Finally, they talk about some of the best (including some unusual) car features for kids. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #750 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving 2022 Hummer EV Edition 1 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE Sedan 2022 Mercedes-AMG EQS 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV 2022 Acura NSX Type S 2024 Maserati GranTurismo revealed, twin-turbo V6 or 750-hp EV Ferrari SP51 is a V12 roadster with gorgeous paint based on the 812 GTS Spider Best car features for kids and family life Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video:

2019 Acura RDX undercuts rivals with base price of $38,295

The all-new 2019 Acura RDX will hit dealers on June 1, 2018, and it'll come with a window sticker bearing a base price of $38,295. That's for a front-wheel-drive RDX; adding all-wheel drive brings the base price to $40,295. Standard equipment includes the AcuraWatch safety and driver assistance package, which bundles automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, and road departure mitigation. All RDX models, regardless of trim, are powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that sends 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque through a 10-speed automatic transmission to the drive wheels. That's more power than rivals like Audi Q5, BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC300, and Volvo XC60, all of which are cited by Acura as key competitors in the small premium crossover segment. The EPA has given the 2019 RDX estimated fuel mileage ratings of 22 city, 28 highway, and 24 combined, or 21/27/23 with all-wheel drive. That's better than the AWD 2018 RDX's 19/27/22 rating, but under the class-leading 22/29/25 figures of the BMW X3, though the Bimmer has less horsepower and torque than the RDX. Perhaps even more important than the low-for-its-class starting price is the reasonable increase in cost as the trim level rises. Opting for an RDX with the Tech Package will cost $41,495 and bring with it navigation with real-time traffic, perforated leather seating surfaces, an ELS Studio audio system with 12 speakers, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic monitor, and front and rear parking sensors. The new RDX A-Spec package branches off the Tech trim level and adds sportier styling with blacked-out accents replacing chrome, 20-inch wheels, 4-inch exhaust tips, an ELX Studio audio system with 16 speakers, heated and ventilated seats, LED fog lights, and sport seats trimmed in leather and Ultrasuede. A red interior package is optional. At the top of the RDX pyramid sits the Advance trim for $46,395. That model gets cool stuff like a high-tech adaptive damper system, 16-way power driver and passenger seats (heated and cooled up front and heated in the rear), a head-up display, surround view camera, genuine wood trim, and a hands-free power tailgate. It's worth noting that since the A-Spec is based on the Tech and not the Advance trim it's not possible to get the adaptive dampers or fancy front seats packaged with the sportiest-looking RDX model. Here's hoping those bits are added as A-Spec package options at a later date.