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Acura head honcho Michael Accavitti (left) is head honcho no more. Honda’s luxury brand will now be led by former Division Director of Auto Design at Honda R&D Americas, Jon Ikeda (right), an industrial designer responsible for the 2004 Acura TL.
Ikeda will assume the top post, Vice President and General Manager of the Acura Division, effective immediately as Accavitti is no longer with the company.
Accavitti joined Honda in 2011 as its chief marketing officer and was given his most recent title in April 2014, putting his tenure at the top of Acura at 15 months. He was also CEO of Dodge for a grand total of four months in 2009.
Ikeda has been with Honda since 1989.
21 Comments on “Accavitti Out, Ikeda Promoted Up To Acura’s Top Spot...”
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Let the de-beaking begin.
Accavitta hasn’t been their long enough to bear responsibility for their misguided design direction, but I suppose he can be blamed for not taking concrete action to eliminate every trace of it. The TLX is actually one of the more attractive cars on the market though, so maybe he was putting them back on the right path.
I think the TLX is as middle-market and styled to neither offend nor excite. I suppose that works for Acura, but as a current 2007 TL owner, it doesn’t make me want to pony up for a 2015.
Your TL is one of the best designs to ever come out of Japan.
Agreed. It is the Japans version of the E39 BMW. Purity of concept and execution without the the saturated fat of later models.
…He was instrumental in the creation of the Acura Design Studio in 2006, a facility exclusively devoted to Acura vehicle design…
So, if I read this right, he gave us the ’04 Acura (gorgeous) but created the design studio and led to the beaks.
Ugh.
Even more important than certain styling cues is getting Honda to decide what it wants Acura to be. That question is at the heart of Acura’s problems. Up to now, the answer has been different with each new generation of vehicles – dating back to the launch of the brand. Ikeda will either hold Honda’s feet to the fire and force them to clarify their thinking – or be a part of the problem.
I think all they want from Acura is it to be a nicer Honda. Pretty much what every other Japanese luxury car is.
This photo is evidence of how Honda royally screws Acura customers time again.
Why couldn’t the production MDX have that more stately lower bumper design? Same was true of the TLX “red carpet athlete” prototype.
For a fact, Lexus-Mercedes-BMW would put those nice details into production.
Acura? Nope.
I will never understand their logic. Same goes for wheel selection. Always screwing the customers with THE worst OEM wheel designs
I love how in the latest Accord update, the BOTTOM screen is now the NAV screen if you use CarPlay or Android Auto. With the standard Honda NAV, is it the top screen that still does that, or is that screen now purely for phone/audio?
I can’t wait for their latest cluster-F to reach Acura. Up is down! Top is now bottom and bottom is now top! WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’RE DOING!
Had to think about it for a moment, but you’re correct, since the control-knob (which had the ability to scroll the map around) is no longer there!
Another thing that “wouldn’t be right” in the center-stack if I traded the car in my avatar for a new one!
The top screen seems like its existence is only validated by working for navigation. You’d think one would also want CarPlay/Android displayed there too, so one could glance at it quickly for information of any sort without taking one’s eyes far off of the road. Turning it into just a “currently playing X song” or phone call info display just makes the whole two screen design (even more) pointless.
Oh,you just had to get our hopes up by mentioning the 2004 TL.
I give up on Acura. The TLX is underwhelming to drive in any of its three varieties, with neither transmission very good and dithery at low speed if they “remember” to engage any gear at all as you accelerate. My test DCT didn’t work properly. Others do – conclusion, production process out of control.
All Hondas have LaneWatch, the camera in the RHS outside rearview mirror. Acuras don’t. Whoever supplies their batteries and shock absorbers must be a Tier 4 supplier judging by the reports on acurazine.com as to quality. Reliable? Only to a fanboi. TSBs galore and if they don’t work, Acura deems the operation normal.
So this new guy has some work to do, and speculation is the new NSX (remember that thing?) will be canned to save money. Nobody is going to miss what they never had.
Whole division needs a mighty shake-up.
Yes! We need a DeadWeight for Acura around here, Acura’s problems are pretty much as bad as Cadilac’s. Both brands struggle to move their sedans and rely heavily on trucks to stay afloat. Both brands have godawful NAV/infotainment systems, and substandard interior quality.
The ILX rollout was an epic failure, and its issues have only partially been dealt with with the recent freshening. At least the engine choices are no longer comical, but otherwise it’s still a Civic++. The TLX once again struggles to justify its existence against an Accord EX-L V6. A Fusion Titanium looks better, is better to drive, and offers a lot more tech features than the “Advance” brand, plus has a transmission that actually works properly. The ZF 9-speed has been a dog in every application so far, and Honda’s “clever” 8-speed DCT may be even worse. The lawsuit is already underway.
The “weld the hood shut and drive it forever” image that Acura has hasn’t really applied for years. C&D’s long term RL tester for example from a decade ago had EIGHT unscheduled dealer service visits in the short time they had it, and was a total electrical basket case. If it was a privately owned car, it likely would’ve been a lemon law buyback. If they actually sold any RLs or RLXs, people might notice.
Yet Acura is gaining share, passing Cadillac and being one of few luxury marques to increase sedan sales in a market where they are falling.
As for the Fusion, it’s not even as good as the Accord, much less the TLX. The Fusion is an acceptable rental, not much more. The Ecobust models are especially poor performers, delivering both poorer acceleration and mpg vis a vis other brands’ 4’s and 6’s in comparative testing.
2015 Fusions are leasing for $129 here in the NE. Or 72 mo 0% plus $1000 cash back. (2016 Fusions are not much more.) That’s KMart marketing. Below the Jetta I believe. That tells you how desirable Fusions are in the market. The best lease on a TLX is 2.5 times as dear the Ford’s.
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/best-car-deals/Ford-Deals/
In the Fed-age, market share is at least as dependent which demographic Yellen sees fit to feed, as any underlying quality, or lack thereof, of the cars themselves. Acura still has a name brand that banksters, or at least those clipping their toenails, are willing to be seen loitering around Manhattan in.
>>with neither transmission very good and dithery at low speed ,,<<
Reviews say the opposite. In fact the new DCT w/ torque converter is considered best in class.
Owners say the opposite, in fact there’s a class action lawsuit over the DCT because it hunts, hesitates, and at low speeds seems to forget how to be a transmission. “Best in class” LOL.
We can’t blame this Italian guy for the failures at Acura as of late, because he hasn’t been there long enough to effect any change (and it’s interesting he can’t work for anywhere very long.)
Who was in charge BEFORE this guy, for a longer time period? That person is the one to put blame on. He who was in charge about 04-12.
“an industrial designer responsible for the 2004 Acura TL.”
i can honestly say that whenever I see an Acura TL, I think to myself “That’s an attractive car with nice proportions. Where did Acura go wrong?”