Acura Confirms Pivot From Full EV Lineup, Expect More ICE and Hybrids
Email address Sign Up
Thank you!
Terms of Service & Privacy Policy.
Back in 2021, Acura's people proclaimed that the luxury Honda brand would skip investing in new hybrid cars and leap straight into an all-EV strategy, kicked off by what's now known as the ZDX. Those plans have now officially shifted, as confirmed today. Expect new hybrid developments and longer-running internal combustion models from Acura for the near-term, after all.
'We're not just dipping our toe in the water with electric at Acura, we are jumping all in. And that's not just because we need to. It's because we want to. Acura is really focused on performance, and electrification is one of the greatest ways we can augment that performance,' said Emile Korkor, Assistant VP of Acura National Sales, in a December 2021 interview with Automotive News.
Today, the story's a little different.
At a Honda executive roundtable in Monterey, American Honda CEO Kazuhiro Takizawa said, 'We will max production of ICE and hybrid models to meet the needs of our customers in North America. This means extending key ICE models and adding hybrid products. Our strategy to invest in flexible production in our EV hub in Ohio is proving very smart. This will enable us to make ICE, hybrid, and EV models on the same production lines, and adjust production fluidly based on customer demands.'
Takizawa-san acknowledged that the brand had previously committed to a complete EV pivot, and said what everybody's been realizing in the current state of the American electric car infrastructure: '…looking at the customer demand, it's not realistic.' He also expressed frustration at policy, which, of course, has made compliance a moving target for automakers, especially in the last year.
The company's not planning to abandon EV initiatives altogether. After all, it just revealed its brand new battery-electric RSX this very week. Takizawa-san elaborated on that too: 'We are also participating in Ionna [an EV infrastructure initiative]. Without charging, we cannot sell BEVs. Without BEVs, charging stations cannot be profitable enough. But I'm sure gradually these pain points will be solved and the customer will have a much better experience in EV life. We're also participating in making our effort to solve the pain points of the customer on that side of the infrastructure.'
Our Editor-In-Chief, Kyle Cheromcha, who was at the meeting, asked: '… from a consumer standpoint, you see something like the Civic Hybrid as a huge seller, and I think people wonder, what's so hard about putting that powertrain in the Integra? So what is the actual blocker there?'
Takizawa-san replied: 'It's not that easy. When you change the powertrain, with crash tests and all those things we have to start from scratch. [Our engineers] say it's quite difficult [Laughs]. But of course, it's not impossible, and we have that technology, so it's just a matter of lead time and development of the models. To have a new vehicle, we usually need four years or more. [With] this lead time, we need to wait. Once we made our decision, it still takes several years. So it's just a matter of time.'
Regarding collaborations on near-future hybrid tech, like how Honda linked up with GM to create the Chevy Blazer and Honda Prologue, Takizawa was confident that his company would not pursue such relationships and go it alone. 'In terms of hybrids, we believe that we have the expertise more than anybody,' he said.
I can't say I'm surprised that Acura's pivoting away from an all-EV-everything plan. But today's comments were the first definitive confirmation we've heard that hybrids and ICE cars will continue to be important pieces of Honda and Acura's strategy for the next few years at least.
Got a tip? Send us a note at tips@thedrive.com.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mega $33M office-shipping center near N.J. Turnpike to open next year
The Joyce Kilmer Logistics Center, a new $33 million industrial project in Middlesex County, is expected to be completed in 2026. Faropoint and Deugen Development closed on the construction loan for the 195,421-square-foot complex this summer, according to a news statement issued by Cushman & Wakefield, which arranged the loan. The center, located at 701 Joyce Kilmer Ave. in New Brunswick, will feature 36-foot clear ceiling heights, 32 loading docks and electric vehicle parking spaces, and modern office space, according to the statement. It is designed to accommodate mid-sized users, with the flexibility to divide into smaller units ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 square feet. The project is strategically positioned near major transportation routes including the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) and Route 1, providing easy access to key consumer markets in New York City and Philadelphia. 'The Exit 9 industrial corridor has become a gateway for commerce in the northeast and has benefitted from a rapid surge in demand for modern industrial facilities, driven by e-commerce growth and supply chain optimization,' said Brad Domenico of Cushman & Wakefield. The development also addresses a specific market need, according to Orry Michael, vice president of Northeast Acquisitions at Faropoint, who said there is a 'limited supply of new Class A product with suites under 100,000 square feet in this Exit 9 micro-location.' Generative AI was used to produce an initial draft of this story, which was reviewed and edited by NJ Advance Media staff.
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Aecom (ACM) Is A Top Stock For US Manufacturing Reshoring, Says Jim Cramer
We recently published . AECOM (NYSE:ACM) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. AECOM (NYSE:ACM) is an American infrastructure consulting firm based in Texas. Its shares have gained 12% year-to-date and jumped by 6.3% in August after the firm's fiscal third quarter earnings. The results saw the firm's $1.34 in EPS and $4.178 billion in revenue beat analyst estimates of $1.26 for the EPS and miss the estimates of $4.30 billion. After the results, analysts from Keybanc and UBS raised Aecom (NYSE:ACM)'s share price targets to further stimulate the stock. Cramer also believes that the firm is a key play to benefit from data center construction and US manufacturing re-shoring: '. . .people are looking for ways to be able to play the reshoring. The best ways are Aecom . . .But Aecom and Jacobs go. . .' During its earnings call, AECOM (NYSE:ACM)'s management commented on its business tailwinds: 'Infrastructure enjoys strong bipartisan support across all of our markets and is an essential element of thriving economies. Fourth, we are investing to accelerate organic growth and expand our competitive advantage. This includes ongoing additions to our advisory and program management teams to meet growing demand as our clients navigate greater regulatory uncertainty and larger investments. This is consistent with our long-term objective of delivering 50% of revenue from advisory and program management over time.' While we acknowledge the potential of ACM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Car and Driver
16 minutes ago
- Car and Driver
2026 Ruf Tribute Is an Air-Cooled Homage to Past Porsche 911s
The 2026 Ruf Tribute features a completely new air-cooled flat-six engine engineered and built by the company. Paired solely with a seven-speed manual, the aluminum 3.6-liter dry-sump engine makes 543 horsepower and 551 pound-feet of torque. Ruf expects to build between 50 and 100 Tributes over the next five years, with each one priced at roughly $1.7 million. In celebration of the Porsche 911's 60th birthday, renowned 911-fiddler Ruf debuted the Tribute two years ago at The Quail during Monterey Car Week. But this model goes way beyond the car's visual throwback to the 964 generation of Porsche's iconic coupe. Although Ruf has plenty of experience upping the output of Porsche's flat-sixes, this time it went all-in with a completely new air-cooled flat-six engineered and built by Ruf, complete with a belt-driven fan in back that will look familiar to anyone who's popped the engine lid on an air-cooled 911. View Photos RUF This year at the Quail, the company showed off the production version of the 2026 Tribute, along with the first delivery of its safari-build Rodeo that it debuted last year. Impressively, the Tribute meets all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS)—although, for low-volume automakers such as Ruf, virtual crash testing stands in for the real thing. It also recently passed emissions testing. Of course, emissions were one of the reasons Porsche cited in switching to water cooling for the 996 911 in the late 1990s. The first Tributes, which are hand-built in Germany, will be delivered in 2026. The aluminum 3.6-liter dry-sump engine makes 543 horsepower and 551 pound-feet of torque and embraces modernity with dual-overhead cams and variable valve timing and lift, but it sticks with three valves per cylinder. According to Alois Ruf, president of Ruf Automobile, the reason for having one exhaust valve is to ensure there's enough cylinder-head mass around the valves to dissipate heat. View Photos RUF A four-valve design with two exhaust valves risks overheating the narrow section between the valves. In addition to the typical engine info such as oil temperature, there's also a cylinder-head temperature readout in the digital gauge cluster. As for emissions, Ruf says the trick is in using variable valve timing on the intake side to retard timing under part load. Two spark plugs in each cylinder also help. If you're guessing that an all-new engine built for a handful of cars doesn't come cheap, you'd be right, as the Tribute starts at $1.7 million based on the current Euro-to-dollar exchange rate. Underpinning the Tribute is a carbon-fiber tub with front and rear aluminum subframes, control-arm suspension with pushrod adaptive dampers front and rear, forged 19-inch wheels, and carbon-ceramic brake rotors. The body panels are also entirely rendered in carbon fiber. The only transmission is a seven-speed manual. View Photos RUF Dimensionally, the Tribute also keeps it old school, with its 165.6-inch length, 71.6-inch width, 49.8-inch height, and 92.2-inch wheelbase far closer to the specs of a 964 than today's 911, which is more than a foot longer. Even better, Ruf's claimed curb weight of roughly 2800 pounds makes the Tribute lighter than a Carrera 2 we tested in 1990, despite more than double the power and almost 40 mph more speed at its top end (200 mph). They say you can never go back, but Ruf seemingly disagrees. And the company seems to be onto something. By 9:30 am at The Quail, two attendees had placed orders, joining the two-to-three-year wait time. Ruf says the company can build 30 cars per year—split amongst the Tribute, Rodeo, and SCR models—and expects to build between 50 and 100 Tributes over the next five years. Dave VanderWerp Director, Vehicle Testing Dave VanderWerp has spent more than 20 years in the automotive industry, in varied roles from engineering to product consulting, and now leading Car and Driver's vehicle-testing efforts. Dave got his very lucky start at C/D by happening to submit an unsolicited resume at just the right time to land a part-time road warrior job when he was a student at the University of Michigan, where he immediately became enthralled with the world of automotive journalism.
