[legitster]

Interesting fun fact - the Japanese sub-brands were mostly created to get around US import restrictions. At the time, the US had super imposing quantity limitations on Japanese cars. So the workaround was the companies spun off luxury companies (Lexus, Acura, Infiniti) so they could sell fewer cars at a higher markup.

[glowingly]

Acura launched first, since Honda already had a factory in the US (originally for motorcycles). Honda was still smaller than Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Toyota at the time, iirc. That factory is still the oldest operating, US factory from a foreign automaker.

Amusingly, the import restrictions were "voluntary," as much as geopolitics can be voluntary.