Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (HMC): Acura’s NSX — The “Next Big Thing”

The NSX might give Honda leverage

The danger the NSX poses to Nissan and Porsche might not initially lie in how well the NSX sells. As Ronald D. White of the Los Angeles Times explains:

Experts said the previous iterations of the NSX created a so-called halo car that brought attention to the entire Acura line. The automaker is hoping that will happen again with the new version.

The NSX has been the kind of car that “adds luster and excitement to the Acura brand,” Jack Nerad, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book, said in an interview.

“It will bring people into the showrooms, not so much to buy, but maybe to look,” Nerad added. “And if they look and then buy an ILX or an MDX, the Acura people will be very happy.”

The new generation NSX has one key factor in common with the first generation NSX — the allurement factor. The first generation NSX sold very well, but also helped consumers take a second look at other Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:HMC) and Acura cars that they otherwise might not have taken a look at, thus driving revenue up for Honda.

How Nissan, Porsche, and others respond to this development remains to be seen. Nissan probably has more to lose than Porsche since Porsche most likely won’t be in direct competition with the NSX for the most part. Both Nissan and Porsche posted pretty strong results in the first quarter of 2013, with Nissan benefiting from a weaker Japanese yen like Honda has.

The outlook for both Nissan and Porsche at this moment looks fairly good, but Honda’s NSX will probably be a factor weighing down on Nissan’s sales in the long run.  At this point, if all goes well with the rest of the NSX’s development then it is safe to say that Acura’s NSX will be “the next big thing” in the automotive industry.

The article Acura’s NSX — The “Next Big Thing” originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Evan Buck.

Evan Buck has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Evan is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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