http://acuraconnected.com/2014/11/20/2016-acura-ilx-los-angeles-international-auto-show-remarks/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AcuraConnected+%28Acura+Connected%292016 Acura ILX – Los Angeles International Auto Show Remarks 
Official release from Acura Media Newsroom:
Nov 20, 2014
Mike Accavitti, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Acura Division
Good morning and thanks for joining us.
It’s been an exciting show so far, and we’re thrilled to be with you today to showcase a thoroughly redesigned, refreshed and reborn Acura ILX sports sedan.
Acura is on the move, step by step, we’re executing on our vision for the Acura brand, adding more performance, more luxury prestige, and more dynamic proportion in design. And we’re gaining energy and strength with every new model launch.
It started two years ago on the SUV side of the lineup with the second-generation RDX, which has run its race at a torrid pace, turning in 25 consecutive months of sales records. It was followed to market by an all-new, third-generation MDX, which is not only the sales leader in its segment, it’s the best-selling 3-row luxury SUV of all time.
Through the first 10 months of this year, sales of the best 1-2 punch in the luxury SUV game are up 16 percent – even over a strong 2013.
And in the months ahead we’ll be sharing our plans to further enhance this Acura SUV lineup for even greater competitiveness.
More recently, we’ve been focusing attention on the sedan side of the Acura lineup, with the launch of the all-new 2015 TLX. The TLX brings to bear an incredible array of cutting edge Acura performance technology, including two next-generation Acura precision handling technologies, two advanced new engines, and two all-new, transmissions, and that includes the world’s first 8-speed dual clutch transmission with a torque converter, which has debuted to rave reviews.
TLX also heralds the introduction of our AcuraWatch Suite of advanced safety and driver-assistive systems. This is absolute state-of-the-art stuff, technology that is on the road to the automated vehicles of the future you’ve begun to see in test programs.
AcuraWatch includes the capability to sense pedestrians, and both front and rear collision mitigation, including what we call Road Departure Mitigation, which means it will intervene to help keep the driver on the road. These are capabilities that match or outperform systems in competitor vehicles that are two or three times the price.
With its tremendously refined and thrilling performance and all of this great technology, it’s no great surprise that the TLX is experiencing record customer interest and growing sales momentum. During the past two months as we began to fill the product pipeline TLX has been our best-selling sedan and is outpacing a slew of other recently-redesigned luxury sedans, and it’s just getting started.
TLX is a core volume model for the Acura brand. More than that, we’re seeing TLX lend a hand to the rest of the Acura lineup in creating showroom traffic, in raising purchase consideration among luxury intenders, and in advancing new leading-edge performance technology. And it is the latter opportunity, leveraging the performance attributes of the TLX that brings us here today.
This morning we’ve got great news about the gateway to the Acura lineup, the ILX sports sedan.
ILX was always a great idea. It broke new ground as the first entry-luxury sedan in an emerging segment, ahead of Mercedes, BMW and Audi. This is a hotly competitive market and a critical front in the battle to attract new, young luxury customers.
And in the context of its role as the gateway to our brand, the ILX has been fulfilling its mission, attracting a higher percentage of under-35 customers than any other car in the segment.
But we see opportunity to grow our sales and share. We have been listening closely to the voice of the customer, who told us that they liked the package and styling, but want more power and more luxury features.
We listened and we’re responding, with more features, more leading-edge technology, and a major injection of Acura DNA, which means a heightened level of performance to create the lightning quick gratification that appeals to younger buyers.
Redesigned, reengineered and reborn as an even stronger, more powerful, and more refined Acura sports sedan, Ladies and gentleman, the 2016 Acura ILX.
This is more than just the normal mid-cycle refresh. Top-to-bottom, from styling to interior refinement, luxury features to leading-edge safety technology, thrilling sports sedan performance to luxury sedan quietness, ILX is now a true gateway to what it means to be an Acura sports sedan.
Acura customers already give us high marks for ILX’s sporty and elegant exterior design, but for 2016, we’ve upped the ante with a bolder, more distinctive front end, highlighted by Acura’s signature Jewel Eye LED headlights, now standard across the lineup, a boast no competitor can make.
The styling changes carry around to the back, with a restyled rear bumper and new LED tail lights.
Inside this new ILX is a level of standard feature-content unmatched in the segment, including remote engine start and all kinds of new connectivity options, including an HDMI hookup. If you’ll pardon the pun, this ILX is in tune with the needs of millennials.
Further, there are available Cross Traffic and Blind Spot Monitors. And for the first time, we’re offering Acura customers an easy to use, smartphone-powered navigation option, in addition to available embedded navi.
This is content younger buyers moving into luxury are going to demand. We’ve got it now.
But honestly, the biggest changes to this ILX are the ones you can’t see, and that we can’t really show you today, and that’s the driving experience. This new ILX responds to the will of the driver, like only an Acura can, with intuitive and intelligent performance.
It starts under the hood, where we’re doing more than infuse ILX with the spirit of the TLX. We’ve given it some of the thrill, by equipping it with one of TLX’s two new powertrains. Yes, the same dynamic 2.4-liter, 16-valve, direct-injected i-VTEC engine, AND, our incredible 8-speed DCT. Both have received incredibly positive feedback in the TLX.
Now, this new powerplant will up peak output in the ILX by 51 horsepower, with torque up by 40 pound-feet from the outgoing automatic model. That gives the ILX the best power to weight ratio of any front-wheel-drive vehicle in its class.
If you’ve driven the 2.4-liter TLX, you know the story, incredibly intuitive and lightning fast shifts, with rev-matching down shifts, via the most advanced, most responsive and most joy-inducing transmission technology in the class.
In ILX, it all comes to you with finger-tip control courtesy of its steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters. It’s a hell of a powertrain, and a major game-changer for ILX performance.
And we’ve made many more performance and ride quality enhancements. It’s more quiet. And the driver will experience a thoroughly retuned suspension in their first trip down the road.
In the area of safety, the ILX gets another valuable shot of Acura DNA, with the adoption of our AcuraWatch Suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies, available as an option on all ILX models. This includes what enthusiast experts tell us is the best Lane Keeping Assist system in the business, along with new Road Departure Mitigation and an enhanced Collision Mitigation Braking system with sensor fusion technology. That even sounds advanced.
There are also major enhancements to the body, designed to achieve a Top Safety Pick Plus rating from the IIHS.
No other vehicle in this class offers this level of technology for safer driving and collision avoidance.
Finally, we’re bringing the 2016 ILX to market with a trim package reflective of the Acura brand direction. That means expanding customer choice with a Standard, a Premium, a new Tech Plus, and the top-of-the line ILX A-SPEC, which is the model you see here.
This A-SPEC model gets an 18-inch alloy wheel, side sill garnish, trunk spoiler, fog lights, red instrument lighting, aluminum pedals and more.
And this beautiful new Catalina Blue Pearl is available on all Premium and above models.
And if you noticed a race car in that video, I will remind you that ILX won its class at last year’s 25 Hours of Thunderhill race.
And next month, an in-house team of our associates will campaign an ILX with the new body style chasing the overall win against some of the world’s great sports cars.
You know, it’s one thing to sell a luxury badge at a more affordable price point. It’s another thing to deliver true luxury levels of performance, prestige and dynamic proportion.
This 2016 ILX is now a great idea fulfilled. A luxury vehicle for the next generation. That’s why we’re telling luxury buyers , Catch it if you can early next year at Acura dealers nationwide.
Thank you for joining us.
Now, come join me on stage and check it out!
[Source: Acura]
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http://acuraconnected.com/2014/11/20/acura-set-to-launch-more-powerful-technologically-advanced-and-luxuriously-equipped-2016-acura-ilx-sport-sedan/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AcuraConnected+%28Acura+Connected%29Acura Set to Launch More Powerful, Technologically Advanced and Luxuriously Equipped 2016 Acura ILX Sport Sedan
Official release from Acura Media Newsroom:
Nov 20, 2014 – LOS ANGELES, Calif.
Re-engineered ILX delivers exceptional performance with new standard 201-horsepower direct-injected engine and 8-speed dual-clutch transmission with torque converter
Available AcuraWatch™ suite of advanced safety and driver-assistive technologies sets a new benchmark in the entry-luxury segment
New grades increase customer choice with premium features, style and technology; New A-SPEC variant adds package of sporty design elements inside and out
Acura took the wraps off its restyled, reengineered and reborn 2016 ILX sports sedan today, launching at Acura dealerships nationwide in early 2015. The 2016 Acura ILX delivers more strongly than ever before on its mission as the gateway to the Acura lineup with a major injection of Acura performance DNA, courtesy of its new 201-horsepower, directed-injected i-VTEC engine and 8-speed dual-clutch transmission for all models, the same advanced engine and transmission combination that powers the just-launched TLX.
The 2016 ILX boasts dynamic new front and rear styling cues, standard Jewel EyeTM LED headlights, upgraded interior materials, optional upsized wheels and tires, enhanced connectivity, and a host of new premium features and technologies, along with significant improvements to cabin quietness, sporty handling and collision safety.
The 2016 ILX also expands customer choice with six available grades vs. the previous three, including the standard ILX, the ILX with Premium Package, and the line-topping ILX Technology Plus Package. In addition, an all-new A-SPEC package, available with the Premium and Technology packages, adds sporty style, and all models can now be equipped with AcuraWatch™, the most advanced suite of safety and driver assistive technologies in the class. The ILX AcuraWatch suite includes Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keeping Assist System, Road Departure Mitigation and enhanced Collision Mitigation Braking System™ with pedestrian sensing capability.
“Top to bottom, from dynamic design to luxury features, and leading-edge safety technology to sport sedan athleticism and sophistication, ILX is now a true gateway to Acura’s performance luxury sedans,” said Michael Accavitti, senior vice president and general manager for the Acura division. “ILX was always a great idea. Now it’s a great idea fulfilled—a luxury vehicle for the next generation.”
New Powertrain
All 2016 ILX models will be powered by a 2.4-liter, 16-valve, direct-injected DOHC i-VTEC engine with peak output of 201-horsepower at 6,800 rpm and 180 lb.-ft. of torque at 3,600 rpm, up 51 horsepower and 40 lb.-ft. compared to the outgoing 2.0-liter engine. The new engine is mated to an 8-speed dual clutch transmission (DCT) with torque converter and paddle-controlled Sequential Sport Shift. It’s the most advanced transmission in its competitive set, delivering incredibly quick, crisp and intuitive gear changes, including rev-matching down shifts, to achieve outstanding response and sporting performance with top-class fuel efficiency. The world’s first DCT with a torque converter, Acura’s 8-speed DCT provides off-the-line torque multiplication for smoother, more powerful launches that other DCTs cannot match.
Dynamic Styling
The 2016 ILX gets numerous styling upgrades including restyled front and rear fasciae, front grille and rear LED combination lights, plus a restyled 17-inch, 10-spoke aluminum alloy wheel. The new ILX A-SPEC package features a sporty side sill garnish, trunk spoiler, front fog lights and new 18-inch, 10-spoke machined alloy wheels with gloss black insets. All ILX models come equipped with Acura’s signature Jewel EyeTM LED headlights as standard equipment, a feature unmatched in the competitive set.
The 2016 ILX also benefits from numerous interior upgrades, including contrasting Euro-style stitching on the steering wheel, parking brake handle and shift knob, as well as new high-intensity silver trim for the passenger-side instrument panel. The ILX A-SPEC package enhances the exceptional cabin appeal and appointments with an exclusive Premium Black interior color scheme including black headliner, perforated black Lux Suede® seat inserts, red instrument illumination, exclusive gray interior stitching and aluminum brake and throttle pedals.
New Premium Features and AcuraWatch™
In addition to the new powertrain and extensive interior and exterior upgrades, the 2016 ILX also ups the ante for luxury, connectivity and technological sophistication. Premium and above grades get a new two-position driver’s seat memory function, a 4-way power passenger seat, Homelink remote, and Acura’s On-Demand Multi-Use Display (ODMD) with upper 8-inch display screen and lower 7-inch touchscreen. The evolved touchscreen connectivity and media system receives more than 50 design changes to enhance intuitive operation and functionality.
Also available for the first time on the Premium grade is a new tethered navigation system powered by the user’s compatible iPhone and data plan via the AcuraLink navigation app. Premium and above models also get Acura’s Blind Spot Information and Rear Cross Traffic Monitor along with enhanced audio options, including SiruisXM radio, AHA radio and HD radio.
The Tech Plus grade with AcuraWatch™ and embedded Acura Navigation add a color Multi-information Display (MID) between the tachometer and speedometer, Siri Eyes Free and ELS premium audio system along with the latest generation of Acura Link connected car technology.
All ILX models can be equipped with the AcuraWatch™ suite of advanced safety and driver-assistive technologies, the most advanced system of its kind in the competitive set. AcuraWatch™ includes Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keeping Assist System, a Multi-View Rear Camera with Dynamic Guidelines, as well as Road Departure Mitigation and an enhanced Collision Mitigation Braking System™ (including Forward Collision Warning) with sensor fusion technology that enables new capabilities including pedestrian sensing.
Body, Chassis and Safety Enhancements
The ILX body and chassis benefit from significant engineering changes that advance collision safety, increase body rigidity, improve cabin quietness and enhance sporty handling performance.
Utilizing Acura’s next-generation Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body structure, the 2016 ILX is designed to more efficiently absorb and disperse the energy in a frontal collision and targets a “GOOD” rating in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) small-overlap frontal crash test and an overall “TOP SAFETY PICK+” IIHS crash safety rating.
Cabin quietness is enhanced by additional noise-insulating materials, a thicker front-side door glass, noise attenuating wheels, and the addition of Active Noise Control technology. Steering responsiveness and linearity is also improved via a retuned suspension and a multitude of chassis design enhancements.
[Source: Acura]
