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Last year Acura saw its sedan sales drop by 10 percent. In an attempt to remedy the situation, Honda Motor Co. created a new group to plan business development for the premium brand. It's called the Acura Business Planning Office, and its head is Erik Berkman, currently president of Honda R&D Americas.
Erik Berkman
A 10 percent drop in combined sales of Acura's ILX, TSX, TL and RLX sedans kept Honda from a goal of achieving record sales in 2013 and overshadowed gains for the brand's more successful MDX and RDX SUVs.
Acura still seems to be struggling to find its identity. Auto industry analyst Ed Kim says, "Acura for many, many years has been a brand without an identity," Kim said. "They are good, solid, dependable, somewhat premium cars that don't communicate any clear message about what they are. The best luxury brands stand for something."
Berkman joined Acura in 1982, and he led development of the 2004 TL sport sedan, which is among Acura's most successful cars. Acura's immediate plans for the future include the release of the TLX, modifications to Acura's ILX compact sedan, and the 2015 return of the Acura NSX "supercar."
Is this the big turn around that Acura has been in need of, or is this just more rhetoric and empty gestures that won't really change anything? I am leaning more towards the latter.

A 10 percent drop in combined sales of Acura's ILX, TSX, TL and RLX sedans kept Honda from a goal of achieving record sales in 2013 and overshadowed gains for the brand's more successful MDX and RDX SUVs.
Acura still seems to be struggling to find its identity. Auto industry analyst Ed Kim says, "Acura for many, many years has been a brand without an identity," Kim said. "They are good, solid, dependable, somewhat premium cars that don't communicate any clear message about what they are. The best luxury brands stand for something."
Berkman joined Acura in 1982, and he led development of the 2004 TL sport sedan, which is among Acura's most successful cars. Acura's immediate plans for the future include the release of the TLX, modifications to Acura's ILX compact sedan, and the 2015 return of the Acura NSX "supercar."
Is this the big turn around that Acura has been in need of, or is this just more rhetoric and empty gestures that won't really change anything? I am leaning more towards the latter.