Acura vs. Mercedes-Benz Comparison

Acura is a luxury car company founded to challenge the idea of what makes a luxury car, to introduce the idea that things like safety and reliability were just as important to luxury as leather upholstery. Acura faces off against older brands, with there being no older luxury car brand than Mercedes-Benz. So how do the two actually compare, Motorcars Acura has put together the following guide to show some of the key differences.

Performance Car of The Year
The revival of the Integra nameplate has been a big hit, and has garnered heaps of praise from the automotive press. But the debut of the Intera Type S in 2024 raised the level of praise even further, with Car & Driver even declaring4 that it “might be perfect”. And Road & Track named it Performance Car of The Year1 for 2024. Much of the praise focuses on how refined it is, with precise handling that somehow doesn’t sacrifice comfort. But the Type S really steps up the power as well, thanks to a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine that produces 320 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. That power comes with another much-loved feature, a 6-speed manual transmission, quite the rarity these days.

Safety
The Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) are held in extremely high regard, as the strict criteria mean that some manufacturers don’t offer a single model that qualifies for one. Acura is not one of those manufacturers though, and more than half the models in the lineup received these prestigious awards. Mercedes-Benz wasn’t completely without awards, but they make up less than 20% of the German automaker’s lineup, reflecting a less-serious approach to safety. These are the Acura models that won:
- 2024-2025 Acura Integra
- 2024-2025 Acura MDX
- 2024-2025 Acura RDX

American Made
There are a number of advantages to buying an American-made car, such as a lower price for parts when performing maintenance, and just generally supporting local communities and jobs. Neither Acura nor Mercedes-Benz are considered domestic brands, but they both have assembly plants in the US. The Cars.com American-Made Index ranks all of the vehicles assembled in the US according to how much American labor/parts went into them, and Acura rates the highest of any non-domestic luxury manufacturer. Mercedes-Benz did not earn any positions in the top 50, and only three models even made the top 100, with the highest-ranking model reaching 97th place. The entire Acura model lineup ranked in the top 15 for the 2023 edition of this survey: With the exception of the ZDX, which is built in entirely different factories due to a partnership with GM, the whole Acura lineup is in the top 20 of American-made vehicles. Here are the Acura models on the list:
- 2024 Acura MDX (East Liberty, Ohio or Marysville, Ohio) — 15th place
- 2024 Acura RDX (East Liberty, Ohio or Marysville, Ohio) — 12th place
- 2024 Acura Integra (Marysville, Ohio) — 17th place
- 2024 Acura TLX (Marysville, Ohio) — 18th place