Acura was the first of the spinoff luxury brands from a Japanese automaker. Honda, which spun it off, did everything just right: Franchise laws prevented the opening of new Honda dealerships too close to existing ones. By creating a new nameplate (Acura), it was able to open more dealerships in the profitable urban areas, where Honda already had considerable strength, and to ignore the areas less likely to buy imports. The upscale positioning of Acura was good for Honda's entire image. In 1994, just over 1 million Acuras were sold, with the Acura Legend representing the majority.
Car models
| Class | Body style(s) | First model year | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | Replaced by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compact | 2DR Coupe | 1986 | Integra | Acura RSX (April 2001–July 2006) | ||||||||
| 4DR Sedan | Acura TSX (April 2003) Acura ILX (May 2012) | |||||||||||
| Mid-size | 2DR Coupe | 1987 | Acura Legend | N/A | Acura CL | N/A (discontinued in 2003) | ||||||
| 4DR Sedan | 1986 | N/A | Acura Vigor | N/A | Acura TL | Acura TLX (August 2014) | ||||||
| Acura Legend | Acura RL | Acura RLX (March 2013) | ||||||||||
| 4DR Sport Utility | 1996 | N/A | Acura SLX | Acura MDX (October 2000) | ||||||||
| Large sports | 2DR Coupe | 1991 | Acura NSX | N/A (discontinued in November 2005; revived in 2016) | ||||||||
From 2006 to 2016, no 2-door coupes were in stock.
Sales
| Calendar year | Integra | Legend | NSX | Vigor | TL | SLX | RL | CL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 64,755 | 65,689 | 1,940 | 11,324 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1992 | 55,174 | 49,926 | 1,154 | 13,846 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1993 | 58,757 | 38,866 | 652 | 10,016 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1994 | 67,426 | 35,709 | 533 | 8,469 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1995 | 61,316 | 18,259 | 884 | 253 | 16,539 | 200 | N/A | N/A |
| 1996 | 46,966 | 629 | 460 | 0 | 24,700 | 2,565 | 15,848 | 16,740 |
| 1997 | 38,331 | 4 | 415 | 0 | 23,151 | 1,299 | 16,004 | 28,939 |
| 1998 | 34,904 | 0 | 303 | 0 | 31,883 | 1,634 | 15,024 | 26,644 |
| 1999 | 26,184 | 0 | 238 | 0 | 56,566 | 694 | 13,366 | 20,968 |
The last 198 units of the 1999 SLX were sold in 2000.