When the August rumor from Dallas Morning News broke that American Honda maybe eyeing property in the DFW area for their new headquarters the auto industry was stunned. Torrance, California had long been the American hub for Honda and the thought of losing another major company to Texas was more than Californians could bare. Luckily for Californian, it was just rumor nonetheless, it underscored the importance of the ever-growing Texas market.
While metropolitan areas like The Woodlands-Houston-Sugarland and Round Rock-Austin-San Marcos get plenty of attention, if McAllen-Harlingen-Brownsville (65 Miles) with it’s 1.4 million people were considered a Metro area, it would be just shy of Austin Metro’s (50 miles) 1.7 million people.
This is why there is such immense focus on the emergence of the Rio Grande Valley car market and the recent success at Clark Knapp Honda has now given rise to the prospects for the Honda luxury brand – Acura. The Valley was once dominated by Charlie Clark Nissan then Pharr Toyota moved in – now with economy booming luxury taste on the rise some experts believe Acura San Juan is best positioned to be the next “Wow” dealer in South Texas. “We’re putting together a tremendous team with a huge emphasis on marketing and social media. Taste in the Valley have changed in regards to leasing and people now realize it’s a great way not to be upside down & get lower payments. Acura has the technology everyone wants as well as uniqueness high-line buyers seek out.” Says 23 year industry veteran and General Sales Manager of Acura San Juan, Ever Torres.
With Acura dumping more money into the market to compete with Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW the only question is what they will sponsor next? The cars wars of South Texas are just heating up for the cold Holiday season but, in the end local new car buyers will likely be the biggest winners.
