After revealing the first official information along with some pictures, today were definitely released both the sedan and coupé versions of Honda’s luxury line to the US. They take some inspiration from Civic when it comes to not betting on making revolutions of style or the whole concept, but it’s highly expected that Accord differs from its smaller brother about the press and public reception. The fact is that these cars have improved an already winner concept, and you can know how was it done by reading this article.
The first look can lead to the thought that Honda is acting wrong at the decision of not taking the opportunity of a new generation to make a complete change at Accord, specially when remembering the results Hyundai received for the current Sonata. However, it’s more important to analyze what the customers at this level really require. They’re usually elders or middle-aged, so tend to prefer their luxury with more discretion, without taking attention for their car’s design. They all agree about packing luxury items, but some of them don’t want to get too much technology to avoid having trouble using it. So the rules at this market is to follow the path once dominated by Chevrolet Caprice and Ford Crown Victoria: follow the efficiency and avoiding the parking troubles at the big cities forces those cars to reduce the excessive length, but there’s nothing forbidding then to stay reliable and sophisticated. This is not the kind of car a middle-class mother uses to drive her kids to school and then herself to the supermarket but it suits the older couples, who make less trips but want to do it with some classical style. This last part is what surely guides the sedan, but also shows great influence at the coupé, too.
But even with all that said about the Accord, it’s important to emphasize that it didn’t become an old-fashioned car at all. The modern idea is made by using tridimensional folds who avoid the too big blank areas but still don’t make it look excessively sculpted. The front air intake received a wider metal frame, but since it’s a large item there’s nothing even bigger that could divide attentions - the headlights have LEDs, but they were designed to look as any other part of the area, instead of the solutions used by the cars from five years ago, whose use of this tecnhology was still a big breakthrough. The side sections preserved the basic style from the previous generations, without following the current trend of raising the line below the windows. And the rear end gets a good-surprise touch with the idea of joining the classical metal bar above the license plate to the white section of both tail lights. This last part is the better symbol of the new Accord’s concept: it doesn’t try to make a revolution on what it’s customers could want because Honda knows this is a harder market to deal with; therefore, the solution was nothing more than give a much younger look to what was already stabilished.
The relation between that and the 3-door’s design can be explained by comparing him with other well-known coupés. Its photos reveal that the Accord Coupé is much more like a BMW 6-Series than a Chevrolet Camaro, to give a quick example. This kind of car has always achieved great reception specially at the US, but maybe because its public is as different from the Camaro’s one as its proposal. This is not the best car to be shown off as the sports versions of its smaller brothers. Its kind of customer is the part from the Sedan’s public who wants all that formality only a little bit reduced. Like a single person, or even the younger ones who have a more classical lifestyle. This can be proved with the fact that, in spite of the exclusive design parts outside, the interior is almost the same of the sedan, and they even share the most powerful engine. The design reveals a different ratio of the sports-classic mixture used at the sedan, so they don’t get too opposite like the Mitsubishi Lancer and Lancer Evo but maintaining a lot of resemblance; the Coupé becomes the casual and stylish brother of the sedan. Such as its competitors, like Chrysler 200 and Hyundai Genesis, or its inspirators, like the late Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
Honda said that Accord’s construction became much safer and more resistant to collisions, as a result of the better materials now used. Besides that, in some months the Plug-in and conventional hybrid versions will arrive, but by now there are two engine options: a 4-cylinder 2.4 with direct injection and the improved 3.5 V6, combined with four kinds of transmission – one of them will be a CVT. The interior has better quality, but takes more compliments because of the advances at technology than at design. There are adaptive cruise control, auxiliary cameras, keyless entry and multimedia sound systems, and the Econ mode with EcoAssist, which changes several driving parameters in order to reduce both emissions and fuel consumption, but the differences are made with other items: HondaLink wants to attract the younger customers by allowing them to connect their smartphones and have access to its functions through the car, while Honda LaneWatch uses those cameras to warn the driver if there are cars at Accord’s blind spots. The sedan will be available at September 19th, while the coupé will wait until October 15th to start its sales.
