Honda Names New Chief for Acura Unit

In a bid to fix its ailing Acura luxury car division, American Honda Motor Co. announced a management shuffle that puts Honda division chief Richard A. Colliver in charge of both lines. Former Acura division chief Richard B. Thomas was moved laterally into a new position in which he will report directly to Koichi Amemiya, head of Torrance-based American Honda. A company spokesman said Thomas will handle a variety of projects. Both Colliver and Thomas retain their executive vice president titles. Colliver, who has headed the Honda division since 1993, is credited with building a strong image for the franchise. At the same time, the Acura division has languished. Its best-selling car, the Integra, is also its base model--little more than a Honda Civic in a better suit. Other Acura models have gotten lost in the marketing melee as luxury car makers from Mercedes-Benz to Lexus vie for U.S. consumers’ attention. Acura sales of 71,594 units through August were off 9% from the same period last year while Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus division sales for the eight-month period climbed 55% to 100,000 units.