When in Rome...don't walk like an Egyptian

A buddy of mine asked me if I ghost-wrote Mark Rechtin's AutoNews article "Acura finds sales, still seeks luxury identity" http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101220/RETAIL03/312209984/1274 as it reminded him of our three-part series written earlier this year, in which I discuss Acura's identity problem:

• Audi & Segmentation (May 13);

• Segmentation Part 2 - Acura needs a true flagship (May 13), and

• Segmentation 3 - Cleaning up Acura (August 8).

The frustration with Acura is that, while on one hand it continues to say that it's happy with the intelligent value shopper, articles like Mr. Rechtin's yet belie a keen sense of misgiving at Acura that it apparently actually wants to measure up to "real" luxury brands where it matters most - in the perception of the consumer. This is where I scratch my head.

Segmentation Part 2 - Acura needs a true flagship

Our first installment in this series introducing luxury branding and segmentation, presented the A8 flagship as a key component in Audi's turnaround, as well as a critical piece of the segmentation puzzle. I'd like to look at the Acura brand through the lens of segmentation to reveal the not-so-hidden fundamentals that provide a constructive answer to the question "why isn't Acura - with all its technical and engineering quality - more recognized as a luxury brand?" I'm not even going to entertain discussion of "near luxury" as a segment (does Honda really need an entirely new brand to compete with a Chrysler 300 or a Buick or a Nissan Maxima? I don't think so either).

Hyundai diesel is coming

This is big news, and I am plenty excited.

For too long, Volkswagen has been allowed to play, virtually alone in the North American market, as pretty much the only diesel offering in a car under $25,000. With this near monopoly, they have been able to settle into a smug complacency as the only game in town. If you asked the average TDI owner (say, a member of the TDIClub), the majority would probably say they'd never own a gas VW, and only have a VW because they are diesel people.