Acura replaces its chief amid turnaround - USA TODAY
Honda has the replaced the head of its Acura luxury division even as it seemed to be finally hitting its stride with hot new models and a new strategy. Acura said he has left the company. Ikeda's title will be vice president and general manager for the Acura division, a job that includes sales, marketing and parts and service. Ikeda is probably best known within Honda for having led the design team that created the 2004 Acura TL, the best-selling Acura ever. The change comes as Acura appears to be the middle of a turnaround. For the first six month of the year, they were up 11. 7%. The brand was seeing success with the new TLX midsize sedan and the smaller ILX, which had been revised to make it more appealing to buyers. When he was appointed head of Acura 16 months ago, he said the division was plagued with "misaligned" product line up, unclear brand position and a dealer body and employee base that was in need of vision and inspiration. He said he set out to make Acura stand out among luxury brand and to build pride. Source: www.usatoday.com
