They are f ... Not sure what happened but as soon as new Acuras debuted without a single hint of hybrid models I knew they were either switching to BEV or they were going bust. TLX screamed for some SH-AWD Hybrid setup which was so good in RLX. MDX without hybrid options was just madness. They cannot fix this no more. New RDX is far away, which means production planning didn't even have it in the pipeline as obvious RSX was probably its successor and only then a push from the dealers came to give them second gen RDX. Not sure how Acura is gonna pull through. Honda will be bruised but fine as it can wait for better BEV architecture.
Everything EV Thread
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They are f ... Not sure what happened but as soon as new Acuras debuted without a single hint of hybrid models I knew they were either switching to BEV or they were going bust. TLX screamed for some SH-AWD Hybrid setup which was so good in RLX. MDX without hybrid options was just madness. They cannot fix this no more. New RDX is far away, which means production planning didn't even have it in the pipeline as obvious RSX was probably its successor and only then a push from the dealers came to give them second gen RDX. Not sure how Acura is gonna pull through. Honda will be bruised but fine as it can wait for better BEV architecture.
DarkSpace6383
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they are the most ambitionless brand out of the big 3 japanese luxury brands. they need to position themselves as a genuine fighter to the likes of Lexus, Mercedes, and BW. Thus far, they aren't even Honda+. Some of their models are literally just Hondas with alternate styling. The funny and sad thing is that they have the powertrains under them via honda group, especially now that large platform hybrid is coming. They just need to have lots of hybrids. they need to also move more upmarket.
Infiniti is non existent. That brand doesn't exist. I think Acura outsold Infiniti like 3:1 or something
DarkSpace6383
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True, but I am talking about ambition. I think theres a solid chance that in 5-7 years, unless Acura screws it's head on, Infiniti WILL overtake it in sales. Under the new CEO I think infiniti has an excellent path forward. They are focusing on volume-seller SUVs but they aren't turning a blind eye to the enthusiast side either (manual sports 6cyl sports sedan). The SUVs they plan on putting out will be more competitive since they will be e-power, hybrid, 6cylinder, and BoF, so smooth, efficent, reliable, and powerful. Acura has NOTHING body-on-frame coming down the hatch. Infiniti's main goal on top of making good products is doing so while being able to shed it's reputation as a "takeover-mobile" and something associated with low credit and illegal activity. This wont be an easy task, but I think changing up the logo could be a start. Personally I would even go as far as a name change. They need a hyundai/genesis/kia like rebirth. I am optimistic for the brand, but reputation is key. For Acura? I really don't know what they are up to. A multi-path approach is necessary. They announce the new plan next month, so hopefully it's good. As of now I honestly really doubt it though.
DarkSpace6383
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IMO it's anyone who is taking solid state batteries seriously. So Merc, BMW, VWG, Toyota will all be hyper competitive. GM could be interesting, but they are ways behind the other brands I mentioned. Ford says they don't care, which is flat-out stupid. As for the smaller brands, Nissan, Lucid. Rivian is exploring it, but like GM they are probably gonna be further behind.
Tesla is researching solid-state in the background, and while I don't think it will be state of the art, it will probably be pretty good. They are trying to move to a completely automated future. I see 3 and Y becoming like personal robotaxis. Cybertruck and Roadster will have some of that tech and be the "cool" vehicles. Everything else will be ultra-autonomous. They are just a completely different brand, with a different type of consumer. This is not to say other companies wont have excellent self-driving tech. I think Tesla will just be a different kind of ecosystem going forward, and when you buy a tesla you will buy into an ecosystem of smart ai products rather than a car company, especially if my prediction of them merging basically all the companies into a super company is correct (spacex, tesla, XAI, neuralink, etc.). I hope to see the other car companies continue to focus on cars, but also have it be apart of a larger ecosystem. I know Lexus hinted at that direction when debuting the japan mobility show concepts. While I like that direction, I am disappointed that they aren't doing the fundimental thing right, developing genuinely good cars.
It could also be what can help Honda come back, since I know they are still developing that in the background, alongside hybrids. But, with 0 series not being entirely dead (0 series alpha has been confirmed to continue as planned), imo they should've continued the 0-series SUVs, and just adjusted production volumes accordingly. That way they can recuperate some of the lost money, and not fall further behind in the coming decades, since a lot of the cost that comes with EVs has already been spent. I don't think the future is EV-ONLY, but EVs are definitely a valuable element (haha get it bc honda element). They will announce a new plan in May though, so lets see what happens. I do hope that some EV stuff is included in that plan, now that I know hybrids will take the center stage. I also don't know if Acura will live. Ive always seen it as one of the brands with the most wasted potential. Even if they are developing solid state, the fact is, the single MOST important part of saving the company is a change in leadership, and the idea of not committing to only ONE technology. If anything, I would de-commit from pure combustion and shift more over to self-charging hybrids. Also, they should've made Acura a global luxury brand, rather than some nonsensical US-only brand. The fundamental hybrid technology that Honda has is smoother than what Toyota has been able to offer. If they put it in an Acura and actually made the Acura feel like a luxury vehicle it would've been an absolute winner.
But yeah, long story short, here is my list:
Definitely safe: Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen Group, Toyota, Tesla
Probably safe: Nissan, Honda, Lucid
Maybe Safe: GM, Rivian
Questionable: Ford
Um no. The majority of the BEV supply chain is in China and it's way different from Apple producing phones scenario.
Toyota is already a winner in the China BEV race but would you really call all these bZs "Toyotas"?
Will1991
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That’s quite a statement regarding a brand that dismissed EV’s for quite some time… Do you really believe it?
DarkSpace6383
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US ones yes, chinese ones no.
Kelvin2020
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Kelvin2020
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😂😂😂
DarkSpace6383
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The new ES suddenly looks beautiful
It looks like a knockoff toy from temu with a bunch Ferrari badges stuck onto it.
