Editorial: Mike Accavitti Leaves Acura Under Mysterious Circumstances

Image courtesy of Allcarbrandslist.com

Last week, we learned that Mike Accavitti, senior Vice President of American Honda, and the head of Honda's Acura division, has abruptly left the company. Former auto design division director, Jon Ikeda, has taken his place. The circumstances of Accavitti's departure are still unknown at this time, but considering that Accavitti has only been on the job for a little over a year, it does make the departure appear a bit suspect.

Last year, Honda took a huge step in giving Acura its own division along with its own director. The idea was to give the Honda luxury division freer reign to do its own thing rather than being constantly limited by the parent company. The other hope was that by bringing Acura's sales and marketing structure closer to its key competitors, the brand would be able to better compete. Enthusiasts were hopeful that under Accavitti's reign, Acura would finally get back to producing vehicles that enthusiasts would be proud of. Accavitti himself, despite coming from a marketing background, seem to genuinely care about what the enthusiast crowd thought of Acura's vehicles. While he was still leading the Acura division, sales had gone up 12 percent over the course of the year, despite the company's sedans being skewered by the automotive press. Accavitti's departure during a time of sales growth draws to the surface many questions.