Acura Delays

The decision by Honda Motor Co. Ltd. to delay the launch of its Acura premium brand in Japan by at least two years likely was prompted by the slow start of Toyota Motor Corp.'s rival Lexus brand, analysts say.

“Lexus sales (in Japan) have been very disappointing and behind plan,” says Tim Urquhart, Asian automotive analyst for Global Insight in London.

Masakai Taketani, director-Asian vehicle forecasts for CSM Worldwide Inc. in Detroit, agrees.

Lexus made its Japan debut in August, 2005. Through May, sales were up 66.9% to 16,034 units from 9,608 year-ago, according to Ward's data, because of added volume from the new LS flagship sedan.

However, with the exception of the GS 450h hybrid-electric sedan, all nameplates are down year-to-date.

Yasuhiko Yokoi, managing officer in charge of Toyota's Lexus marketing division, said late last year that 40,000 units were likely for Lexus in Japan in 2007, below an official target of 51,000 units.

Honda CEO Takeo Fukui blames weakness in the Japanese new-car market as the reason behind the decision to push back Acura's planned launch there, from fall 2008 to “two years or so” beyond that date.

Japanese consumers may be reluctant to pay a premium for vehicles designed by Toyota, even though they know the auto maker produces high-quality, well-engineered products, Urquhart says. But German luxury brands BMW, Mercedes and Audi also are suffering this year, reflecting a difficult overall sales environment.

With Acura's Japan launch now out of sync with the targeted mid- to late-2008 debut of the new NSX supercar, Taketani speculates Honda may launch the NSX with a Honda badge and then switch it over to Acura when the luxury brand debuts.