A Brief History of Acura

In September of 1948, thousands of miles from Utah, Soichiro Honda founded Honda Motor Company, which would eventually bring forth America’s first Japanese luxury brand, Acura. According to Honda’s website, Soichiro was joined by Takeo Fujisawa shortly after the formation of the company, and the two set out to build a company like Japan had never seen. But, instead of cars, Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa wanted to make the world’s greatest motorcycles. 

The next few decades moved incredibly quickly for the pair. Soon after the company’s formation in 1949, Honda’s first motorcycle was completed and the company quickly gained traction in the motorcycle market. By 1960 it opened its first major production facility, and by 1964, Honda was the largest motorcycle manufacturer for Utah and the entire world. 

During the next fifty years, Honda Motor Company expanded dramatically. Its first production sports car, the S500, was released to the public in 1963, and from there, the company became one of the world’s top car manufacturers, and eventually, a top manufacturer of all things motorized.

It was in 1986 when Honda Motor Company introduced the Acura brand to the American market in order to compete with other luxury car companies. Acura is widely recognized as the first Japanese luxury brand, and its introduction to the American and Canadian markets prompted other major Japanese car manufacturers to follow suit.

Acura experienced almost immediate success, according to Bloomberg: “By 1990, Acura was selling 138,000 cars, including 54,000 Legends. That same year, Mercedes sold 78,000 cars; BMW and Lexus each sold 64,000.”

Of course, the classic “everyman’s” supercar made its own impact. The Acura NSX of the early 1990s cemented itself in history as one of the greatest supercars ever made, partly because of its affordability and reliability compared to the shoddy performance of overly-expensive Italian luxury cars. After a 15 year run, not only was the car featured in a “Fast and Furious” movie, but it claimed a cut following that is still very active today from Utah to the East Coast.

From its inception, Acura would become a staple in American car markets. Although Honda and Acura sales plateaued in the 1990s amid an unstable Japanese economy, Acura sales again boomed in the early 2000s, and have continued to stay strong to this day. With a lineup of luxury vehicles like the TLX and the extremely popular RDX, going a day in Utah without seeing an Acura zoom by is nearly impossible.

Ian Carry is an automative writer for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Mike Hale Acura. Follow on Twitter.