Noted ultra-rich car guys Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld vie for the first Acura NSX in Acura's first Super Bowl ad, "Transactions." A few million bucks (plus whatever these two charged Acura) to promote a car that won't exist...

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Acura

How good will the upcoming return of the Acura NSX be? So good, apparently, that despite still being three years out, the supercar has converted well-known Porsche fan Jerry Seinfeld to worship at the altar of the NSX Concept.

Though we wouldn't think the creator and namesake of the hit TV show Seinfeld would need any more money (syndication ftw!), here he is shilling for Acura, obsessed with being first in line for a product that the Japanese automaker isn't expected to begin selling until 2015. Turns out, however, he's not the only comedian with more money than sense who wants an NSX.

Watch the commercial yourself, and help us posit why Acura would spend millions of dollars producing a Super Bowl commercial that doesn't promote any of its currently available products. Couple this commercial with parent company Honda's ad that features Matthew Broderick reprising his role as Ferris Bueller, and we think Honda and company have earned this year's award for spending the most on celebrity talent.

Continue reading Seinfeld dumps Porsche to promote Acura NSX during Super Bowl

Seinfeld dumps Porsche to promote Acura NSX during Super Bowl originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Equipped with AWD and a gasoline/electric hybrid powertrain, Acura's hoping its new NSX supercar will herald a new age of responsible supercar when it hits showrooms sometime in the next 24 months. If it succeeds, it's going to be one sought-after collector car, a seed Acura is trying to sow in this hilarious Superbowl ad. More »

Filed under: Etc., Acura, Celebrities

See that above? It's the Monroney for Tony Stark's Acura in The Avengers. We saw the car on set last year, when most of what we had to say about it centered on its potential hints to the as-yet-unseen Acura NSX concept. Someone got a closer look at the roadster on display, and its details are nothing short of cartoonish but in the best way.

The $9,229,000 supercar uses a palladium-powered 80,000 TOHC 32-valve engine boosted by, get this, nitrous. As well as its nine-speed hyper-shift transmission, lithium dioxide-injecting shocks and reflex-response steering column with target guidance feedback, it is fitted with a device to create an enviro-clone projected hologram of its surroundings. You know, for defense. And because actual palladium use might vary among agents, the 234 city/302 highway mpg is for Tony Stark only.

Head over to Collider.com for more closeup images of Stark's low-density-plasma-emitting Acura roadster and a closer read of that window sticker.

Monroney details on Tony Stark's $9,229,000 Acura from The Avengers originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The people have spoken: Toyota, Ford, Honda, and Chevrolet excel over other brands in the minds of adult car owners, though the brand’s advantages are less this year than in the past. These are among the findings of the 2012 Car-Brand Perception Survey, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center.

The survey scores reflect how consumers perceive each brand in seven categories: safety, quality, value, performance, environmentally friendly/green, design/style, and technology/innovation. Combining those factors gives us the total brand-perception score, as shown in the chart below. While the scores reflect a brand’s overall image in consumers’ minds, they do not represent the actual qualities of any brand’s vehicles.

It used to be that Toyota ruled over all brands, with a greater lead over mid-pack brands due to being identified as a leader in multiple categories. This year, the overall score for Toyota and second-place Ford are lower than in years past, though they remain distinguished as the only brands with triple-digit results.

The latest survey results show consumers are identifying with more brands than before, making it harder for most brands to stand out from the competition. It also signals that car buyers may be seeing the merits in more brands, rather than so closely identifying single brands as owning a given category.

Top 20 Car Brands by Perception

Best overall
Brand	Score
Toyota	131
Ford	121
Honda	94
Chevrolet	92
Mercedes-Benz	84
BMW	69
Volvo	67
Cadillac	63
Lexus	54
Tesla	51
Smart	47
Acura	47
Audi	42
Subaru	41
Nissan	40
GMC	38
Dodge	37
Buick	36
Hyundai	34
Volkswagen	31

Toyota and Ford still rule the list by enviable margins, though the midpack performers see few points separating brands.

With consumers becoming more aware of electric cars, we added small, specialty companies Fisker and Tesla to our latest survey; they scored better than many established brands. Although awareness of those brands is relatively low compared with more well-known automakers, respondents who were familiar with them held Fisker and Tesla in high regard for certain categories. Tesla even scored high enough to make the top 10.

Consumer Reports National Research Center conducted a random, nationwide telephone survey of 2,045 adults from Dec. 1-5, 2011, and collected survey data from 1,702 adults in households that had at least one car.

See our complete story on the 2012 Car-Brand Perception Survey to see how the brands measured up in the seven categories, how they compare against last year’s results, and which brands remain the lowest ranked.

Filed under: Sedan, Etc., Government/Legal, Safety, Acura, Luxury

Honda can thank Wal-Mart for the automaker's recent victory in a class-action lawsuit over Acura RL models equipped with the company's Collision Mitigation Braking System. The system was designed to warn drivers of a potential crash, tighten the vehicle's seat belts and automatically apply the brakes. However, lawyers for approximately 2,000 plaintiffs sued the Japanese automaker, arguing that the system may warn the driver too slowly, and it may not work at all - the lawsuit also complained the system may shut off altogether in foul weather. Reuters says the suit involves RL models equipped with the optional CMBS system purchased or leased between August 17, 2005 and December 16, 2008.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California found that a court ruling in a Wal-Mart case last June effectively narrowed the scope of class-action lawsuits. The same ruling was found to apply to the suit against Acura as well. Previously, a district judge in Los Angeles had ordered that California's consumer protection laws could be applied to RL owners nationwide, but the new ruling repeals that judgment. The circuit court also reversed the district court's finding that car buyers could have relied on advertising by Honda about the collision system. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found there weren't enough common facts among the plaintiffs' claims to apply the California laws across the board.

At this point, it's unclear how the plaintiffs in the case will respond to the decision.

Honda wins Acura RL collision warning system class action lawsuit appeal originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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