Thought it's probably not true, it seems like the Acura brand started its slow death after they decided to kill off what may have been the best name ever created for a flagship sedan, the Legend. Having gone the way of European-style automotive nomenclature along the lines of BMW and Mercedes, the renamed RL (1996) and RLX (2014) just never had the same cache. It seems they've recently realized this because they might just be planning the return of the Legend.
It's clear the current RLX flagship is suffering and has been for some time now. The sales numbers are abysmally low. Pretty much all the other premium flagship sedans eclipse the RLX, including the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series, Lexus LS, and the Audi A8. The Jaguar XJ is really the only model the RLX beats in sales, and it's not by much. Acura needs to revive its flagship mojo in a big way, and bringing back the Legend name with a full redesign might just be the trick.
The word from Autoguide is that Acura has trademarked the Legend name for use in Europe. This is an oddity since Acura isn't exactly a household name there since it has pretty much no presence in that market. So, what it means is hard to tell at this point.
Acura could be securing the name for future use or preventing others from taking it. It could redo their flagship sedan with the Legend name or even use it for a crossover, which would make sense given the fact that sedans don't sell well these days, at least compared to trucks and crossovers. Let's just hope they don't pull something like Mitsubishi's Eclipse Cross, resulting in the revival of a great name on a mediocre vehicle.
Our hope is that Acura brings back the Legend in both sedan and coupe format, and that would truly stand out for a brand that's been trying to figure itself out. Acura is doing some things right. Their TLX has been refreshed and tweaked to make it a better drivers car (plus, it looks far better), the MDX is one of the best three-row SUVs, and now the new RDX grabs attention in the small premium crossover segment. It's too bad the NSX hypercar doesn't sell better, but we respect the effort and the return of that iconic name. The question remains as to whether or not we'll see the comeback of the Legend.
