Acura, the Japanese premium brand owned by Honda, will no longer produce or sell cars in China. The information was announced officially by the company’s local partner, Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC), which confirmed Acura’s shutdown in the People’s Republic.
In a statement sent to Reuters, GAC said it will continue to provide after-sales services to Acura customers in the country and will use its own dealership and service networks. Acura’s discontinuation in China won’t affect the operations of Honda, which will continue to produce and sell vehicles under its agreement with GAC.
Acura was originally launched in China back in 2016 and its sales peaked in 2019 when a total of 14,701 cars were delivered to customers. We don’t have data for 2022 yet but in 2021, the marque shifted only 6,554 cars in the country, down 45 percent compared to 2020. The only two available Acuras in China were the CDX and RDX SUVs, both being outsold by their respective competitors from the German premium brands.
We first heard about Acura potentially exiting the Chinese market back in April last year when the automaker sent a letter to its dealers and customers in the country to inform them about the upcoming quit of operations. At the time, it was reported that Acura could return to China when new electrified and fully-electric products are launched, though there’s no update on this strategy.
The future of the Acura employees in the country is also not known at the moment, though previously it was reported that they will be integrated into the GAC Honda business. Acura is not the only foreign brand to quit the Chinese market as just recently, Stellantis announced it is terminating its joint venture with GAC to produce and sell Jeep vehicles in the country. Some Jeep models will continue to be imported directly by Stellantis.
The future for Acura looks brighter in the United States, though. The automaker is putting the finishing touches on the new ZDX, which was teased for the first time late last year (see the video below). The brand is currently evaluating the crossover in a real-world environment and the full and official debut is coming later this year.
