Acura Due in Japan

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. says it will begin marketing its Acura luxury brand in Japan in fall 2008.

The move to add the luxury channel in its home market follows on the heels of Toyota Motor Corp.'s recent rollout of Lexus in Japan.

To make room for Acura, Honda is combining its three existing domestic car sales channels — Primo, Clio and Verno — into one Honda channel. That effort will be completed in March, Honda says.

Honda says it initially will launch the Acura brand in Japan through 100 dealers.