COMPANY

In the 1980s, Honda was looking to expand into the luxury vehicle market. It was obvious that the demand was there. The result was the creation of Acura, the first Japanese luxury brand.

At different times throughout the company's life the brand has reached the point of the best-selling luxury brands in the United States. Honda brought their attention to detail and unsurpassed quality over to the new line of vehicles.

The Acura Legend was the first car to be produced after years of research and development. Acura didn't want to release just any luxury car; they wanted something that would really stand out from the rest. The Legend was born and people immediately took note of the new standard it was looking to set. In the past, luxury cars were not known for being easy to drive or having noteworthy engines. The Legend changed all of that.

One sedan, the Legend, started a major change in the industry as a whole. After only being available as a sedan, it was expanded to include a coupe and both featured a V6 engine. This vehicle was really turning heads. Shortly after came the Acura Integra with excellent performance, quality design elements and at a lower price than some of the competition. Customers had the ability to choose from a five-door or three-door hatchback model.

The lower price attracted buyers. They were now about to have some of the luxury car upgrades, but would still be able to enjoy a car that was easy to drive and one that contained cutting edge technology. At Acura, research is always going on as they look for improvements and new ways to change driving as a whole.

Acura was making waves and several other foreign car manufacturers realized that the luxury market was steadily increasing. But Acura still kept pressing on with the introduction of the NSX sport coupe in the late 1990s. It was even hailed by Motor Trend as "the best sports car ever built". Motor Trend proceeded to commend the Acura brand when it named the Legend as 1991's Best Import Car of the Year. Beginning in 2001 the RSX sports coupe was introduced, followed by the TSX sports sedan and the Acura TL in 2004.

Acura hasn't just sat back on the sidelines as the auto industry has changed. In fact, with the development of technologies like the Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive, they brought back the idea of cruising around in an easy-to-drive, comfortable vehicle.