Quote:
EricAlain said:
The NSX that was on the paper MUCH better than the 911 has been a fiasco .... I'm not sure the upcoming one will sell better.
I saw the NSX at it's world premier in Chicago in 1989, when it was a bigger deal than the Detroit show now . Acura reps walked around the floor boasting it would change the exotic market as well as strongly challenge the 911 . Yes and no , from Acura's standpoint. It never sold well , BUT , it did force Ferrari and other low volume makers to improve build quality , reliabilty , everyday usabilty and incorporate modern technology -not just peddle the rarity angle - so it has been influential.
Compare a 1990 Ferrari 348 tb to a current F430 . The former car seems like it was built on a FIAT truck assembly line.
BTW, this was the same show and year that world premiered the Lexus brand ( LS400 ) , Infiniti brand ( Q45 ) and new Miata to a sceptical but curious American buyer . The Lexus was aimed at Oldsmobile buyers and the Infiniti was aimed at BMW buyers, per their marketing people . BMWs were big in California's Marin County so Infiniti's first ad campaign was aimed at New Age types , with ads not showing cars but streams and pebbles . Lexus marketed their iron the old fashioned way . The Infiniti was by far the better car, but they to this day have never recovered from shooting themselves in the foot for that premier campaign. Lexus pulled away with their purposefully designed American buyer preferred soft, quiet, average performing and comfy cars . The 80s were the decade of the mighty Japanese economy and they brought these cars to America's heartland to stick it to the Detroit makers .
One more note. At the Infiniti premier , execs first pronounced it " In-fin-NEE-tee " , as if Italian . They later changed pronunciation to " Infinity " because marketing thought the former would confuse the buyer from it's origin.
Same with Hyundai . Originally sold here pronounced properly as " he-YOON -die " , but changed by American marketing to " Hun-day " to sound like Honda and Sunday , less " asian ".