Acura Won’t Shy Away From Size

Acura Won’t Shy Away From Size

By Bill Visnic

CHICAGO – Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s upmarket Acura division doesn’t appear to be afraid to buck indications that American customers may be ready to accept smaller vehicles in exchange for better fuel economy.

At the Chicago Auto Show, Dick Colliver, Acura executive vice president of auto sales, flatly said Acura intends to market comparatively large vehicles — and for that reason, amazingly has no plans to sell hybrids. Instead, Colliver said, Acura will use diesels to provide its customers with an environmentally responsible, fuel-efficient powertrain option.

Colliver told AutoObserver Acura will not have a vehicle employing Honda’s new global hybrid powertrain slated for launch later this year in a Honda-badged vehicle positioned below the current Civic Hybrid. Hybrids, he said, aren’t a good fit for Acura’s current and future product lineup.

“When you go into the bigger vehicles, it’s going to be very difficult” to meet future fuel-economy targets with hybrids, said Colliver. He said Acura does not intend to offer the kind of small, lighter-weight vehicles that are best-suited for hybridization.

“Our position is it’s (hybridization) better-suited for smaller cars,” he said.

Acura already has announced it will offer the first Honda-made diesel engine for the U.S., a 2.2-liter 4-cylinder called the i-DTEC. It is widely believed the i-DTEC will first be used in the upcoming new generation of Acura’s TSX compact sport sedan, coming later this year as an ’09 model — although it’s probable the TSX will not launch with the diesel option.

Although he will not provide specific detail, Colliver said, “We will have a diesel in the Acura lineup in the very near future.”

Honda also is developing a V6 diesel that could be used for Acura’s larger cars and crossovers, particularly the midsize MDX, which weighs in excess of 4,500 lbs. The MDX’s current 3.7-liter gasoline V6 yields a hardly parsimonious 15 mpg in the city and 20 mpg on the highway.

Acura introduced its redesigned ’09 RL flagship at the Chicago show, but its only engine choice is the same 3.7-liter V6 used by the MDX.

Photos by Honda
1 - Dick Colliver introduces the 2009 Acura RL at the Chicago Auto Show.
2 - 2009 Acura RL

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.