Mike Accavitti with a prototype Acura TLX at its preview during the 2014 Detroit Auto Show.

With sales growing well ahead of the industry overall, everything seemed to be going right for Acura boss Mike Accavitti. But the industry veteran has unexpectedly exited the Japanese luxury brand, parent Honda Motor Co. offering no explanation for his departure.

Accavitti will be succeeded by Jon Ikeda, who had served as head of Honda’s U.S. R&D operations and who was trained as a designer before joining Honda in 1989.

“Jon Ikeda brings tremendous knowledge and talent to Acura,” John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda, said in a statement. “From deep R&D experience with the brand, he has emerged as the ultimate advocate for Acura and has built a record of solid achievement and success.”

There were no signs of trouble involving the well-respected Accavitti prior to his departure. If anything, he was highly visible in recent weeks discussing the Acura brand’s improving fortunes. Several well-placed sources expressed nothing but surprise at the sudden announcement and couldn’t offer any explanation for the shake-up.

The first of the Japanese luxury marques, Acura has repeatedly stumbled over the last two decades, even as rival Lexus has vied with German makers like Mercedes-Benz and BMW for leadership in the U.S. luxury market. But recently launched products, such as the latest-generation MDX and new TLX, have finally begun to gain traction for Acura.

Jerry Seinfeld made an appearance at the Acura stand with Accavitti (far right) to check out the new NSX during the 2015 Detroit Auto Show.

The marque’s sales rose 12% during the first half of 2015, roughly double the pace of the overall U.S. market. And its sedan models – which have long been an Achilles Heel – were up 28% during that period.

The 56-year-old Accavitti has been given at least some of the credit thanks to creative marketing moves, including a series of catchy Super Bowl ads, that have helped put the Acura brand back into the public’s eye.

The Michigan native spent more than 20 years working for Chrysler. He survived the breakup of the DaimlerChrysler “merger of equals,” and the subsequent sale to equity giant Cerberus. In 2009, as Chrysler was rescued by a federal bailout and then taken over by Italy’s Fiat SpA, Accavitti was brought into the inner ranks of new CEO Sergio Marchionne who named him the new head of the Dodge brand. But just four months later, Accavitti resigned.

He briefly served as a consultant for tech firm Cisco Systems before joining American Honda in 2011, initially serving as its chief marketing officer. In April 2014, Accavitti was moved to Acura as its vice president and general manager, while company veteran Jeff Conrad was appointed head of the Honda brand.

“These moves will more completely align the major activities for the Honda and Acura brands under dedicated brand leaders,” Mendel explained at the time.

For his part, Accavitti knew that he had a tough challenge ahead, but also a chance to put his stamp on a long-troubled brand.

“Getting tossed the keys to a brand is a very special moment (that) doesn’t happen very often in this business,” he said during an interview at the New York Auto Show just after his new appointment.

Honda’s corporate leaders in Japan took several other critical steps around that time, giving Acura more design and engineering resources while developing an all-new version of the once-beloved halo car, the NSX two-seater. Accavitti personally unveiled the sports car at the Detroit Auto Show last January.

(Click Here for more on the new Acura NSX.)

As for Ikeda, he is a graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He joined Honda in 1989 and worked on a number of key products since then. That included playing lead on the team that designed the 2004 Acura TL. He also oversaw the creation of a separate Acura design studio in 2007 before taking on Honda’s U.S. research and development team.

Some of Accavitti’s marketing duties will now be shifted to Mendel, Honda’s top American executive.

(Accavitti was on hand for the launch of the newly redesigned Acura RDX earlier this year. Click Here for more.)