Acura NSX To Spearhead Acura's Euro Launch
Autocar reports that Acura is finalizing the redesign of their new, front-engined NSX. The latter-day version of the Ayrton Senna-fettled "everyday supercar" will lead the luxury brand's charge into the Eurozone come 2010. Pistonheads may recall that the new NSX was supposed to debut at last year's Tokyo Auto Show. Honda's bosses were unimpressed with the final design; they've pushed the release back a year. The nose of the 550hp V10-powered monster has received special attention. Sources inside Honda tell Autocar that "it now has Chevrolet Corvette overtones." The NSX will be followed by a range of rear wheel-drive (RWD) sedans. First out of the box: a 7-series-fighter set to debut in 2015. And then, perhaps, they'll release an S2000-based sportscar aimed at Mercede's SLK. Acura faces an uphill battle in establishing a foothold in Europe's brand-loyal luxury market. But a revamped lineup of capable, RWD performance machines can only help.
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Technically, it will probably be mid-engined, the engine is just behind the front axle instead of being in front of the rear axle.. I have not looked into how well Lexus does in Europe, but if they are doing poorly i would imagine it's because they don't make cars that Europeans want, not because of snobbery. I think i saw a big Lexus the other day, but i didn't have my glasses on so at least from my balcony it looked kind of like a 7-series in the arse part of it. I see some IS250s occasionally though, and they look pretty ugly to be honest. Not that new German offering are pretty either.
@geggamoya I have not looked into how well Lexus does in Europe In Germany for March 2008, Lexus has sold 268 cars. Compare that with 1500 Porsches and more than 29,000 Mercedes.
Ok, that's.. bad. I wasn't quite expecting it to be that bad.
That's Germany only, which is going to be a very tough market for Lexus for obvious reasons. European-wide Lexus sales figures: 2005: 10,265 2006: 36,662 2007: 53,810 Looks good to me. They are new in Europe; it'll take awhile before they have really high sales over there.