Acura's stand at the 2019 New York Auto Show is filled with color as the luxury brand revealed the new TLX PMC Edition. The PMC Edition will be built at Acura's Performance Manufacturing Center, which is also responsible for building the NSX supercar. The two cars even wear the same shade of Valencia Red Pearl paint. Acura also showed off a prototype version of an MDX PMC Edition, which will be the first in a line of upcoming PMC vehicles.

We had a chance to speak with Acura's Chief Brand Officer, Jon Ikeda, and Head of Public Relations, Matt Sloustcher, about the future of the Performance Manufacturing Center and the hotly-anticipated return of the Type-S models.

"I think what we're doing right now, this is the beginning capability to do other things," Ikeda said in reference to the Performance Manufacturing Center. "And up until now, our manufacturer style has been kind of volume so what PMC brings for us is the ability to go small. And I could tell you as a design guy, we always wanted to do some special things and we were never able to do some of them."

The TLX PMC Edition really stands out in person, especially when parked next to an NSX of the same color. Acura has given the PMC Editon the sporty A-Spec Package, which adds in a bit of sporty flavor without drastically increasing the car's performance. That will come later with the return of Type-S.

Back at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, the then-American Honda Motor Co., Inc President and CEO, Toshiaki Mikoshiba, said the Type-S badge would finally make its return to the lineup. Since then we haven't received any updates about Type-S, but Ikeda was able to share a little bit about what the return of the heralded badge will look like. "It seems like a long time ago. [Mikoshiba] said there will be multiple Type-S models launching in the coming years and a dedicated V6 turbo - dedicated meaning it's going to Acura only," Ikeda said. This new twin-turbo V6 will be different from the one found in the NSX, which is its own special unit.

Acura says it will have an easy-to-understand model lineup with three tiers of performance. "In terms of our brand pyramid with the core models at the bottom, all of our cars are designed to be performance driven. There's a reason we put torque-vectoring AWD in the RDX. All of our models will stand for performance. Above that, you have A-Spec which, essentially adds a sport appearance - it's like a traditional sport package. Then Type-S above that, and if you look through it through a historical lens, it's been about balanced performance for the road. That means obviously turning and very sharp handling, acceleration, and power. And it also means braking. So those three things are historically what Type-S has stood for," Sloustcher said.

"It's going to have those additional things that we're talking about in terms of acceleration, greater performance, I think so that's what the Type-S is known for. So people that value those things need to know it's for them - somebody that is willing to pay that extra amount right for that performance."