A lot of people do forget that Acura was the first of the US-market Japanese brands-gone-luxury. Now that might not give them enough cred to stay competitive on its own, but it does combine nicely with Honda's perennial mission statement. They're usually understated and cautious, and certainly don't have Toyota's money. However they do produce some truly wonderful cars, when they put their efforts into it.
Anything they do is going to take longer than Toyota/Lexus, just because of budget. I do think they can compete if they really want to, but I'm sure the internet will be rife with "Honduh" b.s. in the meantime.