Temple of Vtec: Acura's "Smart Luxury" future is confirmed, and so is a sub-TSX model

As a followup to last week's news item about Acura's rumored adoption of the "Smart Luxury" tagline (and migration away from the previous "Tier 1" target), we have been able to confirm that this course deflection has in fact been communicated to the dealer body.

We can also confirm that Acura has told their dealer body to expect:
-a new entry-luxury model
-an "amazing flagship" model
-a line of hybrid vehicles done "the Acura way".
-NO rear-wheel-drive or V8-powered vehicles

The key drivers for this change in course are said to include the global economic crisis and upcoming 2016 federal mandates which dictate a fleet average of more than 37mpg for Honda and Acura combined. This figure represents an increase of more than 10mpg over where they currently stand.

We are told that Acura has also promised that the future model lineup will feature more differentiation (in terms of size) between models, though the pipeline's rate of introductions may slow down a bit. Acura has previously stated that the lineup would offer an MMC or FMC every 6 months for the next several years, but now they are saying an MMC or FMC "every year".

Source;
http://www.vtec.net/news/news-item?news_item_id=868825