Originally posted by MrFatBooty
If Joe Schmoe car shopper goes to his Honda dealer and drives an Accord EX-L and then heads over to the Acura dealer to drive a TSX that conceivably runs a couple grand more, what's there to get him into the TSX? It probably feels like a more buttoned-down version of the Accord with more nicely proportioned styling. Plus with the money he saves on going with the Accord instead of the TSX he can spring for the navigation system or the V6 which he can tell feels a lot faster. That is the problem.
It's probably the same reason why Joe Schmoe bought an A4 over a Passat. I don't see the TSX competing against the Accord. The TSX will have more of a sport sedan feel to it. They're two distinctive vertical brands, unlike GM's horizontal branding. There's a reason why customers chose to spend more on an entry level premium over a midsize mainstream model, even if Joe Schmoe gets more out of the mainstream choice.