Honda won’t bring in its premium Acura brand offered overseas to target a growing number of premium-pitched Chinese arrivals such as BYD’s Denza and MG’s IM Motors in Australia. 

Acura was established in 1986, three years before Toyota introduced Lexus and Nissan introduced Infiniti. It also preceded Mazda’s Eunos, Efini, and aborted Amati brands.

While Lexus remains on sale, Acura has never came to Australia. That’s despite Infiniti being offered between 2012 and 2020 and Eunos being launched as a standalone brand here in 1992 before being folded into Mazda in 1996.

Hyundai has since launched Genesis as a Lexus rival, but now Chinese car companies are getting in on the act with luxury brands of their own, including BYD’s Denza due in Australia by the end of 2025. 

CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal.

Above: Acura Integra

MG has also just launched premium vehicles, officially under the ‘IM Presented by MG Motor’ banner but sold within MG showrooms.

The growth of premium brands hasn’t prompted new Honda Australia CEO Jay Joseph, who took the reins in April 2025, to add Acura to that list.

“[Bringing Acura] here would require substantial commitment of resources in developing a brand – you’ve got to have brand awareness before people shop,” Mr Joseph told CarExpert.

“Candidly, I think our priority should be on expanding the potential of Honda and making sure that we’ve done everything we can with the Honda brand before we would consider taking on an additional brand here in Australia.”