Decided to run the numbers again and recreate the monthly sales chart I did in a previous post. Some interesting information to be found there.
First, here is my old chart which shows sales shortly after the launch of NSX2. While they numbers were a bit low, really they weren't that far off from other vehicles in the market segment and to be honest I took this to be a good sign.
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Fast forward to recent sales and the more disturbing trend shows up:
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As you can see, the NSX has lagged significantly behind the German cars and struggles to keep up with the GTR (its about 200 cars behind). The real winner though is the Mercedes which is doing spectacular in the segment. A better graph to show just how much the Benz is doing is to isolate the 2018 model year
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So what is going on here? I'd say there are a few things:
Price
Base price is too high for the Acura NSX and should have been between $110k-130k. The
community knew it and said so, but I believe Acura highly underestimated how much their brand has deteriorated and priced their car apples to apples against the competition rather than including a significant market discount for the front badge. That is a bitter pill to swallow, but an important one not to ignore. Given the specs of the NSX2.0, it certainly warrants the $158 MSRP compared to its competitors specs, but that isn't how the game is played. Furthermore, the competition has lower entry points. Not surprisingly the Benz shines here with its entry price of $112k, but if you look closely at the numbers you can see why the NSX is priced where it is. The image below shows the story, the "base" model of the NSX is considerably stronger than the other bas versions and more on par with the top trim vehicles and the price reflects that. As much as that is logical, it isn't helping their sales numbers. The real problem is the lack of a cheaper NSX and that leads to the next key point - limited options. It is also worth pointing out that Nissan includes a significant "badge discount" and offers you a ton of power for a lot less money than the German brands. While that seems to help it to out perform the NSX, even value alone isn't overcoming the badge stigma.
Lack of Options
There is pretty much just one NSX in a small selection of colors and the ability to either toggle carbon fiber on or off. This is a dramatic departure from their competition which offers significantly more colors and options - most notably a less expensive, less powerful version. This is easy to understand if you realize that Audi and Mercedes are luxury brands whereas Acura would do well to acknowledge that they are a premium brand. The crossover in materials for your Performance Car when you have a lineup of sedans and SUVs that sell for over $100k is vast. When your sedans and SUVs are only pulling price tags at half that price you are really stuck. So Mercedes and Audi CAN offer a wider variety of options and not get crushed on manufacturing costs whereas for the NSX to do so comes at a very high price tag! A similar story trickles all the way down the line.
I have no doubt that Honda/Acura accountants were well aware of that when they put the brakes on vehicle options, I just hope they also computed the dramatic effect that would have on sale numbers as well.
This car is designed to lose money and it needs to lose more
I am sure that Acura already knew they were going to lose money on this car, but I think they under estimated just how much money they SHOULD lose on this car. Acura let their brand slip for nearly 20 years and buying that brand image back is going to be expensive. In the 90s, when someone said "Acura" you probably first thought "Integra". The Integra was a great car which stood head and shoulders over the Civic and was widely regarded as one of the best (if not THE best) sporty cars. If you say "Acura" now, people's first thought is "MDX - a great budget SUV with nice features".
If they want to get back on track and truly become the luxury brand they advertise to be a fabulous car like the NSX is a good start. The upgraded RDX is a solid follow up too. They need to keep going though - either commit to starting a journey or don't even bother starting and stick with just being a Premium brand. A nice, less expensive option to the true luxury brands like Mercedes or Audi. If they want to commit, double down on the NSX and do what it takes to get back in the marketplace in the time honored fashion - give people more than they pay for.
