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Updated 12.17.2008
Honda Motor Company, as a result of the global economic downturn, projected lower profits through March 2009. The slowdown of auto sales and the strength of the yen versus the dollar have decreased profit margins to the point that Honda has scaled back some of its programs, and halted development of a production version of the 2011 Acura NSX.
It's still on the drawing board, but a new performance flagship is coming to Honda's premium brand--or so gossips say. Some see a concept dream come true: an edgy-cool sports-luxury coupe with all-wheel drive and a potent front-mounted V10.
What We Know About the 2011 Acura NSX
Rumors of a "next" Acura NSX sports car were swirling well before the well-liked original bowed out with model-year 2005, and the buzz only got louder when the Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept (ASCC) appeared at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show. Though parent Honda is known to be working on a new performance flagship, trade journal Automotive News quotes company insiders as saying the project is still at an early stage and has no firm timetable yet. Even so, many industry gossips are predicting a 2011 Acura NSX patterned on the zoomy ASCC.
They could be right, though we can think of reasons why not. First, the Advanced Sports Car Concept was built mainly to trumpet Acura's recently opened design center in Pasadena, California. Honda wants its premium brand to have a distinct visual identity, hence the separate studios and talent demos like the ASCC and the weird Advanced Sports Sedan Concept before it. While Acura says the ASCC design assumes a front-mounted V10 engine and all-wheel drive, the concept was only a "pushmobile" with no running gear, so a production model could end up being entirely different. Indeed, despite the "Sports Car" moniker, the concept's size, shape and stance suggest a high-speed luxury coupe, not a driving-focused machine like the original NSX with its lightweight aluminum spaceframe, revvy midships V6 and Chevrolet Corvette. On the other hand, racy newcomers from two homeland rivals--the just-released 2008 Nissan GT-R and Toyota's high-power 2009 Lexus sports coupe--are doubtless goading Honda to respond. Honda may find it easy being green, but it still wants to be seen as a performance power second to none.
There's also the question of whether Honda would take the trouble of building the Advanced Sports Car Concept and then do nothing with it. Sure, most concept designs go no further than an auto-show turntable, but Honda isn't known for indulging in dead-end ego trips.
After considering all this, we think the rumor mill is right after all, though we won't be surprised if it isn't. After all, the original NSX was quite an unexpected turn back in 1990. Then again, an Acura press release calls the ASCC a "preview of the design direction" for an NSX replacement. Coin toss, anyone?