Carscoops and the Japanese site Car Watch report that Honda has ceased sales of the 2020 model year NSX. While this may not seem like a big deal because it’s a previous model year, it highlights the low sales the NSX has had even in its home market.
According to Honda, though sales have stopped, production has not. The NSX is still being made for other markets, including the U.S. where it’s sold as an Acura. Even if you look on Honda’s Japanese site, it says the 2020 model isn’t available — and there isn’t an option to choose the ’21. Weirdly, if a Japanese customer finds a 2020 model left over in dealer stock, they can have it on a subscription basis, Carscoops said.
Could this point to the NSX being entirely discontinued in Japan? Maybe. But it does point to the low sales the hybrid supercar has had since its long-awaited introduction. Sales numbers for the JDM NSX are hard to find, but what I did learn was that Honda sold a grand total of nine NSXs in Japan in January 2020. Honda was shooting for 800 cars a year, with 6,000 in the first three years. Also, keep in mind that the NSX was discontinued completely last fall in Australia after selling none the whole year and three in 2019.
The world waited years for the third-generation NSX as it changed from concept to production. It started life as a concept called the ASCC, or Advanced Sports Car Concept, way back in 2007. That concept was powered by a V10. Honda’s CEO at the time told the public that the car would be coming to market by 2010. Development mules started to be seen running around the Nürburgring in 2008.
However the world’s financial crisis affected Honda, and the company announced that the development of the NSX had been canceled. Then 2010 came, and all of a sudden Honda was racing the NSX. Called the HSV-010 GT it was powered by a specially developed 3.4-liter V8. Not long after that, in late 2011, reports came that the NSX was in development again. When the North American International Auto Show rolled around in early 2012, Acura debuted the NSX concept. Even after all of that, it was another three years before the production NSX made its debut at the 2015 NAIAS.
Since its debut, sales have never been that great. Granted it’s a low-volume, six-figure hybrid supercar that’s sold by a brand that hasn’t been taken seriously as a luxury player for years. But still. Here in the U.S., and as is the case with most models’ debut, its best year was its first year, 2016. Acura moved 269 units. In 2017 there was a sales increase of 117 percent to 581 units. Then sales dropped nearly 72 percent in 2018, to 170. A 40 percent rebound came in 2019 with 238 sales. However, 2020 brought a 46 percent drop with only 128 sales. Only a handful are being sold every month.
Could we be seeing the end of the vaunted NSX? It’s hard to say. While Acura seems to be trying to get its performance mojo back with its A-Spec and coming TLX and MDX Type S models, a six-figure sports car that’s selling a few a month might not make financial sense for too much longer. So if you have the means, please go buy an NSX. We might not see anything like it again from Honda.