Dealers combing their dusty databases to try to move 2018 cars

[Bricks and Bio]

Today I received a call from a local dealership that I had contacted in early 2016 looking for an allocation.

She said that she knows it is quite some time since I enquired about a 2017 NSX. She asked that if I hadn't already purchased one and was still interested, would I like an incoming 2018.

I can't believe following up leads that are over 2 years old is a good use of time, but there you have it.

 

[SCKOMS]

Is Acura actually building cars and sending them to dealers? I thought it was by order only.

 

[powdbyrice]

i had some leads that said they just bought XXX instead of the NSX.

some of the people in the market for the NSX have car ADD, so theres a chance they might be in the market again 2 years later.

 

[Axxlrod]

One of the cars I called about when looking ended up being a 2018. The salesperson sent me the lease quote, and it was over $3K per month. When I responded that it was double what it should be, they said it was for a 2018 model, so no Acura rebate. Uh, good luck with that.

So obviously the 2018 cars are not all special order only.

 

[bngl3rt]

I'm not sure Acura can actually force the dealers to have a specific human customer lined up before they are allowed to order a car. Dealers can go ahead and order an '18 to have sit on the floor if they want. I'm surprised by how many are doing so.

What has ended is 1) the game with allocations - it's just first come, first serve now and 2) the whacky "build phases" that the factory used to do where they would alternate building sets of "dealer cars" vs sets of "customer cars" and depending what type of order you had you might end up waiting an unpredictably long time.

They basically made the ordering process less opaque and frustrating, but I'm glad I put up with some of the above BS to capture the rebate on a '17.

 

[powdbyrice]

One of the cars I called about when looking ended up being a 2018. The salesperson sent me the lease quote, and it was over $3K per month. When I responded that it was double what it should be, they said it was for a 2018 model, so no Acura rebate. Uh, good luck with that.

So obviously the 2018 cars are not all special order only.

they are.

in acura's perfect vision, stores would have customers lined up, ready to order once an allocation came in.

in reality, acura would allocate a unit to a dealership. the dealership would have a few weeks to decide to keep or decline it. after accepting it, the order had to be placed within 2 weeks. acura threatened "future allocations could be affected if you decline an allocation." So, dealers ordered cars regardless if they had a customer in place or not. that's how some stores ended up with 3 units on the floor and 200+ cars sat across the nation.

currently acura got rid of the allocation system and will only build cars as orders come in. actual customer orders will take priority over dealer orders.

 

[nsx878]

What does it actually cost a dealer to "floorplan" a car these days? It would make no sense for a dealer to buy a $200K MSRP car and have it sit on the dealer floor for a long time?
Does Acura finance their dealer inventory? The 2018's are going to have problems if not repriced via rebate.

 

[powdbyrice]

yeah, from a cost perspective, having an NSX or 2 on the floor doesn't make sense.

from a branding perspective, it does. My GM wants to have one on the floor. But i'm in the Bay Area, so the chances of someone coming in, showing interest, and having the capacity to buy is greater than that of smaller stores.

 

[dshinke21]

yeah, from a cost perspective, having an NSX or 2 on the floor doesn't make sense.

from a branding perspective, it does. My GM wants to have one on the floor. But i'm in the Bay Area, so the chances of someone coming in, showing interest, and having the capacity to buy is greater than that of smaller stores.

Correct. In my store we have never just had a customer walk in expressing real interest in the car. Many are asking questions about what it is and what is so special about it but in a smaller store like ours it is more about getting the car in front of local buyers, taking it to car shows, sponsoring local exotic car clubs, etc.

 

[ginmqi]

Dang, maybe not so surprising.

NSX sales have been slumping quite a bit for the first 2 months of 2018 so far: (though of course this may be seasonal as well...)
01/2018:


02/2018:

 

[RYU]

Wow.. those RL sales are abysmal.

 

[powdbyrice]

Wow.. those RL sales are abysmal.

we've sold 5 of them. :biggrin:

 

[dshinke21]

Wow.. those RL sales are abysmal.

I believe our dealership sold 1 last year. Our GM joked that he wanted to improve RLX sales 400%. I asked how many that would be and he said well, we need to sell 1 every 3 months :dispirited:. I love them but they just don't grab much attention in our market. One of my NSX clients traded his Volvo for a sport-hybrid MDX and traded his 2017 A8 for an RLX sport-hybrid. He loves them all. Other than the NSX the RLX Sport-hybrid is by far my favorite car to drive or ride in.

 

[Bricks and Bio]

I got an RLX one time my NSX was in for service.

The car is a barge and the controls are surprisingly unintuitive.

I make them give me an ILX now as it is easy to maneuver around Chicago and that car has a super cheapo interior.

 

[powdbyrice]

its sad that with the 2018 RLX, they kept the old ODMD interface rather than upgrading to 2.0/android auto/carplay.

 

[neuronbob]

its sad that with the 2018 RLX, they kept the old ODMD interface rather than upgrading to 2.0/android auto/carplay.

I noticed that, and fail to understand why that is. It can't cost that much more to give your flagship sedan the most updated GUI, can it? I say that as a former RLX SH lessee who actually liked the car. (TLX easier to maneuver, though! )

 

[dshinke21]

its sad that with the 2018 RLX, they kept the old ODMD interface rather than upgrading to 2.0/android auto/carplay.

That was a massive disappointment when I learned that. ODMD 2.0 is better. Far from perfect but greatly improved. Been told the new RDX system is excellent by our owner who was flown out to see it a few months ago. Hoping to maybe see it in New York soon when I fly out for the COSE event.

 

[ginmqi]

March 2018 Honda/Acura sales figures:

16 NSX sold.

 

[RYU]

Is there any way to tell if those are 17's or 18's?

March 2018 Honda/Acura sales figures:

16 NSX sold.

View attachment 152409

 

[stuntman]

Wow.. those RL sales are abysmal.

CR-Z is worse than the NSX. Crazy to think Honda sells more trucks than cars, but then again, the same goes for most brands these days.

 

[The King]

CR-Z is worse than the NSX. Crazy to think Honda sells more trucks than cars, but then again, the same goes for most brands these days.

CR-Zs are obviously going to be rare sought after collector items down the road in thirty or forty years! Better pick up a few while they're still available.

 

[fastaussie]

Dang, maybe not so surprising.

NSX sales have been slumping quite a bit for the first 2 months of 2018 so far: (though of course this may be seasonal as well...)

i reckon Honda will be hard pressed to sell about 1/3 of what they did last year, at best. the first year is always the big number, after that the novelty wears off.

if i'm not mistaken, i believe the first NSX dropped off about 2/3's in year two. and that model was a much bigger revelation and sales hit back in the day...

 

[RYU]

If anything... Honda needs to make the 18 incentives better than 17. Time is a killer in this equation. The older the NSX platform gets the worse it hurts the cache/excitement/impulse_buying of the car.

I'd have to assume Honda knew this...

 

[Axxlrod]

Plus Acura needs to make some improvements to the car. Lift, power-folding mirrors, seat adjustability, power bump, better tires, more colors, Targa top, etc...

 

[neuronbob]

Agree with [MENTION=34591]Axxlrod[/MENTION] . I can hardly wait to see where Acura goes with the new NSX. I'm confident they've got something up their collective sleeve. A power bump is always welcome. Still a fan, no matter how unpopular it is to be one.