Honda: The Power of Dreams: Part I

Honda's lineup right now is garbage.  It's all over the place.  Half the time when looking at a new Honda, I'm not sure if what I'm looking at is a car, SUV, minivan, or some combination of all three.  So Honda, stop it.  Just knock that shit off.  Everything is ugly and half-assed on the Honda lot.  Soichiro-San is displeased.
After being disgusted by the trash at Honda, I wander over to the Acura lot, hoping that there is some semblance of life there.  Nope. My eyes are assaulted with the infamous "Power Plenum" grille; or as it is better known, “The Beak”.  Acura's designers indignantly refuse to change it, because clearly, they know better than their own customers. 
So Honda, I'll say again; stop.  You don't know better than your customers.  I have owned three Hondas and if things keep going this way, I won't own any more of your pretentiously mediocre cars.  The CR-Z, Honda?  Really?  Dafuq is that all about?
This series will address the problems with Honda and how to fix them in a realistic and economical fashion.  A paradigm shift doesn't come easily, however.  Big change requires big investment, not only in product, but presentation of said product.  Imagine me as Honda's own Alan Mullaly.  The main theme here is simplifying the brand as a whole.  The number of nameplates will decrease, and the number of options within a given nameplate will increase.  Stay with me here.
The first matter of business concerns Acura.  When Honda created the Acura brand in 1986, Honda was little more than a quirky, Asian upstart, known mostly for motorcycles.  One did not get into a 1973 Civic; one put a Civic on and wore it.  By 1986, the Civic had grown, though it was still a tiny little thing, with a wheelbase shorter than today’s MINI Cooper.  A car about the size of Ford’s Taurus would have been a tough sell with an ‘H’ badge.  Enter Acura.  Initially, they sold only two cars: the Legend and the Integra.  Through the late eighties, nineties, and early aughties, Acura earned a reputation for efficient, comfortable, well built, technology laden, entry level luxury cars.  The automotive landscape has changed since then, however.  Detroit is pumping out world class iron at a monumental rate, Korean cars sell like hotcakes covered in crack cocaine, and the Europeans have found a way to make muscle car power and torque out of engines a third the size.  So where is Honda?  Sadly, Honda has fallen to mid-pack at best, forgoing new technologies for safe conservatism.  Honda and Acura once had a symbiotic relationship.  These days, it’s a parasitic relationship.  A Taurus-sized car is no longer a tough sell for the little ‘H’ badge.  In fact it’s something that Honda needs right now, with Toyota releasing the new Avalon soon, Chevy the Impala, and Hyundai the new Azera.  It’s a competitive market that Honda cannot compete in because if they did, their entry would steal sales from the Acura TL and possibly the RL.  So sadly, it’s time for Acura to go the way of Oldsmobile, Mercury, and AMC. 
This is not to say that Acura is gone and forgotten.  What I am really doing here is consolidating the brands, taking the best of both brands and putting them together.  I am moving Honda into a marketing position that is competitive with the booming American and Korean brands.  This not only makes things easier and more cohesive on the showroom floor and for the buying public, but behind the scenes as well, simplifying fixed operations.   Not only that, but it saves a lot of money on the bottom line. 
Under one banner, Honda has a sturdier framework with which to further build their reputation for innovative, quality cars, like they once did.  Do you agree?  If you don’t you’re wrong, but if you’d like to sound off in the comments section below, I’d love to hear your rage. 
In Part II of ‘The Power of Dreams,” we’ll delve into engines and transmissions.  I hope you hate it.
-Dash