A Brief Writing #1: On the "Near-Luxury" Segment of the 1980s & '90s

My name is Joe, and this will be my second published blog post, and my first post resembling a proper article. As the name of the article implies, I'll be writing of the near-luxury market segment that appeared in the US some forty years back, and in particular, about the Asian entries into it, as well as some background on said entries. As a note, this article focuses on the Asian imports, not on the Chrysler Corporation's efforts in the segment & the resultant domestic competition; that is an article for another time, perhaps.

Well, without further adieu, I'll start us off: Back in the '80s, there was a growing demand for "near-luxury" vehicles, things that were well-appointed & classy, while being affordable for the general public. Germany had the market on the "higher", more expensive luxury segment cornered--brands like Mercedes & BMW were not only well-established, but getting an even greater reputation from their performance & motorsport endeavors, not to mention Porsche. American automakers weren't particularly focused on their luxury market, excepting Chrysler; their offerings ranged from the very old-school Fords/Lincolns, to the disaster that was GM's management of the Cadillac range at the time, particularly in the famous (or infamous) dumpster-fire of the Cimarron. The Chrysler Corporation, however, was an early adopter in this segment, arguably even the firm that really started it, though one could also argue it was a mix of new manufacturing technologies & the previous decade's obsession with the personal luxury car that truly spawned the near-luxury segment.

It's natural, then, that Japanese carmakers also saw the untapped potential in this growing area--they were taking a growing share of new car sales, and with the impact of the Chicken Tax--a significant tariff on Asian imported goods, including motor vehicles--it was becoming less & less profitable for said automakers to sell their lower-market cars in the United States, despite the popularity they had garnered during the energy-scarce '70s. Toyota found a brief hit with their Cressida sedan--sold elsewhere as the Toyota Mk. II--but, as the vehicle stagnated & reviews started to become lukewarm, they realized that Japanese cars were getting a reputation as purely conservative, unexciting choices at best, and rustbuckets at worst, largely due to poor paint quality, even in comparison to the contemporary output of General Motors. And so, we follow three separate paths from Japan to America: Toyota (Lexus), Honda (Acura), and Nissan (Infiniti).

The first off being Toyota, a slow actor in this market. The aforementioned Cressida was a good seller, and received a whole host of good reviews from automotive journalism; naturally, Toyota saw little reason to risk breaking what they'd made. But, as the '80s went on, it became clear that American tastes were moving towards far bubblier shapes, and on that front, the old Mk. II's once-sleek lines became antiquated. So, in order to not only introduce a new luxury car for the changing times, but to revitalize the company's brand image as much more forward-thinking, while oxymoronically still appealing to their conservative customer base, they launched the Lexus brand.

Lexus was originally a very deep collaboration between old-heads from Japan, as well as Americans who had bought into the new venture. Much of the design work of the new Lexus flagship model, the LS series, was done in California, not to mention that all of the market studies were done throughout America, particularly between California, Illinois, and New York. The LS launched to much praise from the press, as well solid sales for a new marque, and shortly thereafter, Lexus received followup models as the IS compact, the RX SUV, and the SC personal luxury car. Many of these old cars--especially the LS & RX--can still be seen on the road to this day, a testament to the work of Toyota's engineers, some thirty years ago.

Secondly, we look at Honda, certainly the most economically-minded of the bunch. Honda was the first to catch onto the new market segment, founding the Acura brand in 1986, as a rather solid excuse to import some of their Japanese models that met American regulations. The Honda Integra compact became the Acura Integra; so, too, did the Honda Legend received the Acura badge, not to mention Honda's new "halo car", the briefly-record-setting NSX. Because almost every model from the Acura lineup was simply a rebadge job of a car sold by Honda in either Japan or Europe, there's little I find insightful I have to say about them, though it is noteworthy that the Acura nameplate was once applied to the Isuzu Trooper, as the Acura SLX, one of the Trooper's many different names.

And moving onto Nissan, we see a brand with a better-established luxury marque than the prior two. Nissan was on a journey upmarket since the late-'70s; their old Datsun brand had since been largely discontinued in America, excepting their pickup trucks, an attempt to escape the downmarket reputation of the old brandname, despite its motorsport success. As a further aide to this move up, Nissan established the Infiniti brand, offering direct competition to Chrysler's sport-luxury K-platform convertibles & coupes. This was the brand's primary purpose, but as the decade went on, Nissan saw an excuse to sell their SUV as an upmarket vehicle, just like Toyota had done with their 4Runner/Lexus RX. Indeed, much of the early Infiniti lineup was occupied by simple badge jobs, just like Honda's Acura division; into the next decade, however, Infiniti would shift its image from a simple alternative into something much more youthful & exciting.

But that story, of course, is for another article, for another day. My hope is that this first proper attempt at an article is serviceable. If not, please tell me why in the comments! Your feedback is much appreciated, as it helps me improve. In the event you actually enjoyed this post, please stay tuned for more in the future!