2004 Acura Tsx Base Sedan 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Honda spinning off Acura as stand-alone division in bid to wake up brand

Every major automaker has a different way of relating between its various divisions and brands. At Volkswagen, for example, the individual brands seem to operate with a large degree of autonomy. Under the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the two units share a common chief executive, but little else. The relationship between Honda and its luxury division Acura has always been rather close, but that's all about to change.
American Honda Motor Company has always handled sales and marketing in the North American market for both the Honda and Acura divisions, but new reorganization plans call for the two units to be separated under their own direction. Leading the Acura division will be Michael Accavitti, who moves into the position from his role as Senior Vice President for Auto Operations at American Honda. The Honda division will meanwhile be taken over by the current head of Acura sales, Jeff Conrad.
Both will report to John Mendel, the current executive vice president of the Automobile Sales Division that is being rebranded as the American Honda Auto Division. Unlike rivals Lexus and Infiniti - two brands that Acura beat to the market - Honda barely markets its luxury brand outside of North America. Its overseas presence is felt only in China, though we've yet to receive word on how the reorganization might effect that market - or for that matter, any potential of expanding into others.

Acura claims MDX is best-selling luxury 3-row ever

Business for Acura has been in a weird place, recently, and the company's latest car launches have been especially rocky. For example, the ILX Hybrid was recently discontinued after just two model years with only about 2,660 sold in that time. The company also delayed the launch of its new TLX by a few months until later this summer. However, despite its issues with sedans, the automaker's utility-vehicle business in absolutely booming. In fact, it now claims that the MDX is the best-selling three-row, luxury SUV, ever.
The MDX is already leading its class this year with 30,664 units sold through June 2014, up 68.4 percent compared 2013. Also, in five of the last six months of reported sales, Acura has posted gains. It appears that the company's utility lineup is really pushing it along.
To take the bestseller ever crown, Acura claims that through its three generations, the MDX has sold a cumulative 692,710 units. The premium model has also been at the top of the annual sales rankings for three-row luxury crossovers every year since 2002. The company believes that its nearest competitor is the Lincoln Navigator with an estimated 420,000 lifetime sales, and even arguably more comparable vehicles like the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz M-Class only have 350,000 or fewer sales under their belts. Of course, it probably doesn't hurt that the MDX has one of the lower starting prices in its class.

eBay Find of the Day: S.H.I.E.L.D. Acura TL from The Avengers

If you're a fan of The Avengers from 2012, then here's your chance at owning a piece of movie memorabilia. Following last year's auction of a Acura MDX from that movie, Scottsdale Motor Company is now listing another S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle on eBay Motors - this time a 2012 Acura TL.
Unlike the MDX, this TL has fewer modifications limited to the custom front push bumper, matte-black paint job and the various LED emergency lights in the back window and in the front bumper, while the inside appears untouched with the exception of small auxiliary switches. The current auction price of this car $32,900 - compared to the $41,535 MSRP of a new TL with Advance Package back in 2012 - but this is a steal compared to the movie-prop Monroney that comes with the car listing the "palladium-powered" sedan at $227,085. The seller says that this car was only one of five built for the movie, and it only has 1,111 miles on the odometer.
After the S.H.I.E.L.D. MDX and TL, we can only hope that Scottsdale Motor Company will offer Tony Stark's Acura NSX Roadster as its next movie car auction.