Sagging Sales Forcing Acura to Drop Base 2.0-liter ILX?

Now that Honda has remedied the 2013 Civic with a redesign, it appears the automaker has shifted its attention toward the C-segment car’s more premium platform-mate, the 2013 Acura ILX. The new compact sedan is not the sales superstar it was projected to be, but the Japanese automaker plans on fixing the problem by making a major powertrain change, according to Automotive News.

2013 Acura ILX front left view 300x187 imageAcura plans on dropping the 2.0-liter I-4 from the lineup, as John Mendel, American Honda executive vice president said it’s “underpowered, and consumers don’t see the value,” to Automotive News. This could mean the racier 201-hp 2.4-liter will replace the less-inspiring mill to further set the ILX apart from the 140-hp Civic. “The Acura ILX is what the Honda Civic should have been, but at a Civic price,” we said of the 2.0 ILX during our Motor Trend Car of the Year testing, where we recorded a 0-60 mph time of 9.0 seconds and quarter-mile run of 16.9 seconds.

Currently, the more potent 2.4-liter unit is exclusively paired with a six-speed manual transmission, but Mendel also hints that a 2.4 automatic is in the works. Making such changes could help catapult ILX sales, which aren’t close to hitting the initial target of 30,000 units a year. “We’re hitting two-thirds of our expectations, but we’re growing every month and catching on more,” Mendel told Automotive News.

Acura spokesman Chuck Schifsky tells us a different story, however. “The ILX is slowly getting up to where we want it to be, and it’s taking quite a while to get the awareness built up, but the 2.0-liter isn’t going anywhere.” As for a 2.4 automatic, Schifsky says there’s no plan for that, either.

Sagging Sales Forcing Acura to Drop Base 2.0-liter ILX? - WOT on Motor Trend

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