Acura Sales Are Growing Faster Than Competitors Like Lexus and Cadillac
Acura used to have a reputation for high-tech luxury cars that were a blast to drive at a price point lower than German rivals. Over the years, it lost its identity and began to blend in with the crowd of budget-friendly premium sedans and SUVs.
However, the Acura brand has committed to a return to its roots, and it’s a bet that’s paying off. A quick look at the sales numbers for Honda’s luxury brand shows impressive growth, and it’s not hard to see why. That’s especially true in comparison to some of its luxury competitors.
Acura sales are growing in 2023
According to data on GoodCarBadCar, Acura sales have grown 39% so far in 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. At this point in 2022, Acura had sold 52,860 cars. So far, in 2023, the brand has moved 73,642 units.
So, what’s the reason behind this surge? There are a few obvious reasons why Acura sales are growing in 2023. The biggest is the reintroduction of the Acura Integra.
The Integra is the new entry-level sedan for the Acura brand. It replaces the outgoing ILX, which initially came out in 2013 based on the Honda Civic. The tenure of the ILX continued through the 2022 model year with few significant changes. It was outdated and had none of the excitement of earlier Acura compact sedans, namely the Integra.
Now the Integra is back, and it’s a true-to-form sport sedan. It has a stylish liftback design (with a huge cargo hold), an eager engine with an available manual transmission, and an exciting Type S model based on the Honda Civic Type R. Acura has done an excellent job repackaging the Integra as a modern compact luxury sedan that’s attractive to enthusiasts and just about anyone in the market for a premium sedan.
The expansion of the Type S family could be another reason Acura sales are growing. There are Type S variants of the TLX midsize sedan and the most popular Acura model, the MDX midsize SUV. The Type S trims aren’t the most popular, but they appear to be doing an excellent job building hype around the Acura brand, making it more appealing to enthusiasts.
What about other luxury brands?
Sales growth is up pretty much across the board because of a better supply chain situation in 2023 compared to 2022. However, not every brand is growing at the same pace. For example, two of Acura’s closest rivals in the luxury car market aren’t growing as fast. In the same period Acura has grown 39%, Lexus has grown 13%, and Cadillac has grown 21%.
That being said, Lexus significantly outsells Acura in total volume (149,413 units so far in 2023) largely thanks to the RX midsize SUV, America’s best-selling luxury vehicle. Meanwhile, Cadillac sales numbers are almost identical to Acura in 2023; 75,197 units for Cadillac and 73,642 Acura sales. Acura is impressively closing the gap with Cadillac.
Acura is also outselling non-German luxury brands, such as Infiniti, Genesis, and Lincoln, although Infiniti has seen an impressive 48% growth in sales. Unsurprisingly, German luxury brands like BMW and Audi still outsell Acura by a significant margin.
We don’t expect Acura to outsell Lexus any time soon, but the Acura sales growth so far in 2023 is impressive, nonetheless.
