Acura Counting On Design Changes To Help Slowing Sales

To help counter its slipping sales, particularly of its sedan models, #Acura thinks that its new design elements are one possible resolution.

According to analysts reported by Dispatch, Acura's SUV sales are failing to fully counter its slumping sedan sales in part because the brand doesn't have a clear enough identity. Sales are down 10.5 per cent for the first 10 months of 2016.

Acura's manager of public relations, Matt Sloustcher, says that a key building block for the company to reverse this trend will be its updated design language, first previewed by the Precision Concept.

“Of course, we’re never content with things. This is a long-term game. Over the past year, we’ve put into place long-term, fundamental building blocks,” he said.

Among the Precision Concept's key design elements was the bold 'diamond pentagon' front grille. This feature has already been implemented into the 2017 Acura MDX SUV and in October, the revised face helped it record a 14.7 per cent bump in sales over October 2015.

Even still, sales of Acura's MDX and RDX models aren't yet high enough to fully counter the sales decline of cars. Director of industry analysis for AutoPacific, Ed Kim, says one possibly solution would be for Acura to add the subcompact CDX SUV - currently only on sale in China - to its U.S. lineup.