Acura marked two events this week in the United States by selling the 2 millionth North American-made Acura vehicle and producing the first new 2016 ILX sedan.
Honda’s luxury brand sold 2 million North American-made vehicles in the United States, 20 years after Acura production began in the country. “Reaching two million in sales of North American-made Acura vehicles as we begin production of the 2016 ILX at the Marysville Auto Plant portends great things for the Acura brand,” said Michael Accavitti, senior vice president and general manager of the Acura Division.
The Acura ILX had been built since 2012 at the company’s Greensburg, Indiana plant, but with the facelifted 2016 model Acura has shifted production to Marysville, Ohio, where the larger TLX sedan is also made.
The 2016 Acura ILX is powered by an all-new 2.4-liter DOHC direct-injected i-VTEC engine mated to an 8-speed dual clutch transmission – the same powertrain that drives one version of the new Acura TLX sedan. Built at the nearby Anna, Ohio engine plant, the 2.4-liter engine produces 201hp at 6,800 rpm and 180lb-ft (244Nm) of torque at 3,600 rpm.
Acura began producing cars in the United States in 1995, when the first Acura CL rolled off the assembly line at the East Liberty Auto Plant. In 2014, 94 percent of Acura vehicles sold in America were made at the company’s plants in Indiana, Ohio and Alabama, using domestic and globally sourced parts.
Total U.S. sales of North American-made Acura models reached an all-time high of 158,043 vehicles in 2014, from a total of 167,483 sales.