Motoring Middle East: Car news, Reviews and Buying guides

It’s the biggest story in the history of Honda Middle East – but you never heard about it

By Shahzad Sheikh

As far as Honda Middle East should be concerned this is the story of the decade. Acura is here! Yes, right here in the region. Has been since April in fact. What’s that? You don’t believe me? You didn’t know? Well neither did I. But in fact Al Mulla Group in Kuwait – who are also the dealers for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, Alfa and Mitsubishi – launched a brand new dealership for Acura back in April. Still don’t believe me? Watch this video:

For car and Honda enthusiasts this is potentially a massive thing, not least because it signifies another huge story – that of the NSX. Despite the non-committal responses of Honda Middle East when asked about the new mid-engine hybrid supercar, the arrival of Acura in Kuwait (along with the fact that a disguised pre-prod version of the all-new NSX has been spotted testing on Middle Easter roads) seems to confirm that it is in fact coming to our region. Praise the Lord!

But not so fast. Apart from the extraordinary fact that Honda Middle East didn’t deem it necessary to send out a press release concerning this epochal event, it’s equally astonishing that Kuwait is the first GCC country to get an Acura dealer. No disrespect, but considering that Honda’s biggest markets in the region are Saudi Arabia and the UAE, that’s more than a little surprising.

Interestingly Acura has been launched with a non-Honda dealer. Alghanim is the Honda dealer in Kuwait. I feel this might be a mistake. Acura is a brand little known outside of the USA – launching it here is like launching a whole new brand. Look how much trouble Ford is having relaunching Lincoln – and that’s still a marque synonymous with the legendary Town Car.

Honda itself on the other hand, is a well-know, highly regarded, and greatly appreciated brand. There’s a lot of affection and loyalty towards it, and it has strong inherent brand values. Surely it would make sense, at least initially, to associate Acura directly with its parent brand, to give customers the reassurance of knowing where these cars are coming from. In any case I suspect most Acura customers are Honda-owners looking to upgrade anyway.

Only two models are available at the bespoke dealership – the TLX (basically a luxury Accord with all-wheel steering) and the MDX – a sleek and sharp-suited large SUV actually based on the Pilot. However they will be bringing the NSX, they’ve already demarcated a display area in the showroom and are creating a dedicated area in their workshop for the car.

But don’t hold your breath. According to one report, deliveries of the all-new $150,000 American-built Acura NSX – being awaited by car fan celebrities Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld amongst others – has already been put back from the end of this year until next Spring. This is because Honda has decided to uprate the twin-turbo V6 engine (which will be coupled with three electric motors) to produce more power, and apparently this has necessitated making the car slightly longer and wider.

So – Good News: Acura is in the region; Bad News: only in Kuwait and Good News: the NSX will come to the region; Bad News: not only will we have to wait will initial massive demand in markets like America are met first, but the deliveries of this already long-gestating Japanese exotic has been delayed until Spring 2016. Sigh.