What Happens to Acura & Infiniti When Honda & Nissan Merge?

The big automotive news to start off 2025 is this MOU, or Memorandum of Understanding signed by Nissan and Honda, along with Mitsubishi that everyone seems to forget, which is set to create the third largest automaker if it goes through in 2026 as planned. Theres’ been some speculation as to what a NissMubishOnda product lineup could look like with the three consumer brands likely retaining their names while producing vehicles on shared platforms. But both Honda and Nissan operate near-luxury brands, so what might happen with Acura and Infiniti, in a post merger world?

To understand where these two Japanese luxury brands might be heading in the future, we need to look back at the past. The late 80s were a wild time in the auto industry, with the Malaise Era taking its toll on automotive design and performance, the industry was poised for something new. And good things always come in threes. The Japanese government had imposed voluntary export restraints for the U.S. market, which made it more profitable for Japanese auto makers to export more expensive vehicles to the U.S.

Honda launched its Acura division in 1986 with the Acura Legend. The following year Nissan announced it too would enter the US luxury market with its own premium brand, Infiniti, and began reworking the Nissan President to be exported as the new Infiniti Q45 which would launch in 1990. Toyota’s Flagship One project cost an estimated $1 billion and resulted in the 1989 Lexus LS 400. Even Mazda tried a go with their 929 in 1988, even going as far as developing a brand called Amati before scrapping it.

Acura would grow its lineup with the compact Integra offered in 5 and 3 door variants, along with the Accord adjacent Vigor, which I owned and featured many years ago. During the same time, they brought out the first true Japanese luxury halo car, the Acura NSX.

Infiniti also began with two models and quickly began to grow its model lineup in the 90s. At the time they were selling fewer vehicles than Acura or Lexus, offering a different luxury experience than other brands, focusing less on wood trim or chrome accents. They launched their first SUV in 1996, the QX4, a vehicle we featured back in Quebec, followed later by arguably one of the most popular vehicles Infiniti ever launched, the 2003 Infiniti G35 sedan and coupe.

Over in Camp Acura, their Isuzu Trooper badge engineered SLX only lasted 4 model years, followed by their move from named vehicles to letters. The MDX quickly became a popular seller for American SUV buyers, followed by the smaller RDX later in the decade.

Meanwhile the Lexus model range grew from just two models in 1989 to 10 in 2009, whereas Infiniti had 6, and Acura 5, 6 with the Canadian Exclusive CSX.

Which brings us to the present era. Acura in Canada and Acura in the USA have had a pretty consistent sales history since 2019, with odd years being good for both markets, and even years not so much. Infiniti has been struggling more in the USA, with 2020 being a bad year for Canada, but small growth in 2024 and 2023. Neither brand as returned to pre-COVID sales numbers, with Infiniti in both markets selling a combined 50% less vehicles in 2024 than they did in 2019, whereas Acura’s sales numbers have returned much closer to those from 2019. Acura outsells Infiniti nearly 5 to 2, but Lexus in North America outsells Acura more than 3 to 1.

Acura is the stronger brand with better sales, not to mention standalone dealerships whereas Infiniti dealers are typically attached physically to an existing Nissan. Logistically and logically, it means that unfortunately Infiniti must go away. Since Acura doesn’t have a full-size SUV, the new QX80 could be redesigned and blended into the Acura lineup, Maybe the QDX.

The TLX only barely outsells the dinosaur that is the Q50, so realistically both should be retired with no replacement.

Acura managed to sell one NSX in 2024, in Canada. As cool as that car is, it’s time for retirement too.

Which brings us to the meat and potatoes for these brands, their SUVs. The Infiniti QX60 sells relatively well in Canada against the MDX, with a wider margin between the two in the USA. Now unless Nissan and Honda start jointly developing a new vehicle platform today, a next generation MDX will still ride on a Honda derived platform. It’ll take years before a true next gen collaborative platform is ready for prime time, but a shared adaptable platform that can be scaled to suit the vehicle will need to be at the foundation for this merger.

Look at Lexus, who went from 2 models in 1989 to 13 today because of their Toyota New Global Architecture platform which underpins almost every vehicle they make today. They’ve become successful by making reliable, thoughtfully designed luxury vehicles and aren’t afraid to overlap segments and markets with different vehicles. While a smaller luxury portfolio for the future Nissan Honda Mitsubishi conglomerate will be a requirement in the immediate future, a long term strategy to compete against their largest Japanese rival will have to be a priority for the brand.

You can watch our latest episode of OverDrive covering this topic, with some awesome historical footage from both our vault and directly from Acura and Infiniti.