Top in Automotive: Honda Accord

Showing posts with label Honda Accord. Show all posts

Honda Gets its Mojo Back: Consumer Reports Puts 2013 Accord on Top of its Class

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Despite the (in)famous 2012 Civic episode, there seems to be no bad feelings between Honda and Consumer Reports (CR). The publication may have dropped the 2012 Civic from its recommended list pressuring for a quick redesign, but Honda can relax as far as its U.S. market best-seller is concerned.

In fact, it may even smile as CR has put the 2013 Accord at the top of its class in four-cylinder guise while it notes that the V6 version is “challenging the Toyota Camry for the top spot” in its ratings.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Last year, Ford, with its Focus, was the sole U.S. manufacturer included in the final list for the North American Car and Truck of the Year award and it finished in third place, behind the VW Passat and the winner, Hyundai’s Elantra.

Even more surprising was the truck class where the Range Rover Evoque beat the Honda CR-V and the BMW X3. Where is this world coming to if U.S. manufacturers can’t build an SUV or truck to make an impression in their own market?

Friday, December 7, 2012

Reminds us not piss off any Brazilian woman. Dozens of bystanders on a street in Vila Olímpia, an upper-class neighborhood in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, were treated to a spectacle earlier this week when a young woman lashed out her anger on her boyfriend's or according to some other accounts, husband's black Honda Accord.

The woman used anything she could get her angry hands on, from keys to bricks, to cause as much damage as she could on the Japanese sedan.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

We've already seen the new Accord but at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Honda announced that the frugal, Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) variant of the series will be available for retail sale and lease beginning January 15 in the states of California and New York, with an MSRP of $39,780, excluding a $790 destination (*) fee.

Whether or not it's worth paying close to double or about $18,000 more than the base $21,680 2013 Accord with a 185hp four-cylinder engine, or even a $10,000 premium over a fully equipped EX-L with Navigation, is something that buyers should seriously take into consideration.

Friday, November 9, 2012

It's the most popular passenger car segment in the U.S.A. with well over 1 million annual sales and four representatives in 2011's list of the 10 bestselling models overall, including the Toyota Camry that finished 3rd behind the Ford F-Series and Chevy Silverado trucks, followed by the Nissan Altima (4th overall), Ford Fusion (6th) and Honda Accord (9th).

We are talking of course about the mid-size category, which is the subject of Car & Driver's (C&D) magazine latest comparison test.

The publication took its previous winner, the North American market VW Passat (not to be confused with the Passat sold in other regions) that beat the Toyota Camry and Hyundai Sonata, and compared it against three newcomers, the 2013 versions of the Ford Fusion (to be sold in Europe as the new Mondeo), Honda Accord and Nissan Altima.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Honda says it is "reaching out to the enthusiast community" with two new concepts of the 2013 Accord that were built by independent vehicle tuners and which are on display at this week's SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

The most impressive of the two models is the 2013 Accord Coupe "Grand Touring" developed by Bisimoto Engineering, which upgraded the stock car's 3.5-liter V6 with a supercharger system and a boatload of other goods to lift output to 401-horses.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Initially, Facebook was available only to Harvard students, then to other Ivy League institutions, companies like Apple and Microsoft and as of September 26, 2006, everyone in the world who has a valid email address and is at least 13 years old.

As of last month, the social network has over one billion active users worldwide. California-based web analytics company Quantcast reports that in May 2011, it had 138.9 million monthly unique visitors in the U.S.; that’s close to 45 percent of the country’s population.

A billion users, half of them accessing the social media through their mobile devices, which means that they can be reached at all times: it’s a marketing team's wettest dream.

Monday, October 1, 2012

The first automotive recall of October comes from Honda that is expanding a previous safety action of around 52,000 model year 2007 and 2008 Acura TL vehicles to include 573,147 Accord V6s from the 2003-2007 model years for a grand total of 625,762 cars.

In a filing to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Japanese carmaker said that prolonged exposure to engine heat can cause the power steering hose to deteriorate prematurely, resulting in cracks and power steering fluid leakage.

Friday, September 21, 2012

While in the United States, the Accord is Honda's bestselling nameplate with 218,665 deliveries this year (from January 1 through August 31), in Europe, things aren't anywhere near as rosy.

Speaking to Just-Auto, a spokesperson for Honda said that Accord sales in the continent have plummeted to the point that the car has become a niche model. As a result, the spokesman said that the Japanese carmaker has "no immediate plans" to launch a new model in Europe.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

In life, there are always two ways to see things: the glass can be half-full or half-empty. This may also be the case for some of the new TV spots Honda has prepared for its 2013 Accord, which goes on sale in the United States today, September 19.

The multimedia campaign is named "It Starts with You" and it puts a lot of focus on new technologies that help drivers avoid certain situations that could place them in danger, including the LaneWatch blind-spot display and forward collision warning systems.

Monday, September 10, 2012

On the occasion of the announcement of pricing for its 2013 Accord Sedan and Coupe models earlier today, Honda is taking a ride back to the future with an infographic that puts the spotlight on each generation of the mid-size model since the company began producing the car in the States in 1982.

The infographic includes a handful of interesting data such as the base model's curb weight, wheelbase length, entry-level engine, starting price in USD, and the highlights of each of the eight generations of the U.S.-built Accord, which you can then compare.

For example, we see that the 1982 Accord was fitted with a 75hp 1.8-liter engine and tipped the scales at 2,184 pounds (990 kg) while priced from $8,245.

On September 19, the all-new 2013 Accord sedan will arrive in U.S. showrooms with a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) starting at $21,680 for the base LX sedan and rising to $33,430 for the V6 Touring model, excluding a destination and handling charge (*) of $790.

The two-door 2013 Accord Coupe will go on sale about a month later on October 15 with prices ranging from $23,350 for the four-cylinder LX-S model to $32,250 for the V6 EX-L with Navigation, again not including a $790 destination and handling charge.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Well, the cat is almost completely out of the bag as Honda released a comprehensive image gallery along with the sales dates and fuel economy numbers for the 2013 Accord Sedan and Coupe, as well as the 2014 Accord Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV).

What’s missing are the prices but it won't be long before we find out as the 2013 Accord Sedan goes on sale in the States on September 19, 2012, with the Coupe to follow on October 15, 2012.

The new, two-motor 2014 Accord Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) Sedan will reach U.S. dealerships in early 2013, followed by a conventional hybrid based on the same powertrain architecture in the summer of 2013.

The regular Accord Sedan and Coupe are offered with Honda's new Earth Dreams 2.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine, which in its base form delivers 185-horsepower and 177 lb-ft of peak torque.

When coupled to a continuously variable transmission (CVT), the sedan returns 27 mpg city, 36 mpg highway and 30 mpg combined, while with a 6-speed manual gearbox, 24 miles per gallon city, 34 mpg highway and 28 mpg combined.

Monday, September 3, 2012

These two sketches, allegedly previewing the Russian market 2013 Accord sedan, were said to be released by Honda's local division on the sidelines of the ongoing Moscow International Motor Salon 2012.

There are a couple of things about these renderings that immediately caught our attention, the first being the car shown here is essentially identical to the North American 2013 Honda Accord sedan revealed in the beginning of August and the second that it is wearing German license plates.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Honda may have released images of the final production version of its 2013 Accord Sedan and Coupe ahead of launch, but it only showed us the exterior of the two cars with the interior remaining a mystery.

Not anymore as a forum member of the Honda-loving Temple of VTEC (TOV) secured what looks like a brochure or perhaps a dealer-intended image of the 2013 Accord's dashboard with information on the various features.

A few things we noticed is the multi-layered design of the dash with two screens on the center console.

The lower touchscreen unit, positioned between the central air-vents, is for the new HondaLink infotainment system, while the upper, full-color unit for Honda's Intelligent Multi-Information Display (i-MID) that shows all sorts of information from the Navigation system to trip computer functions.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

The 2013 Honda Accord is on its way to North American dealerships as the Japanese carmaker started series production of the mid-size model at its Ohio assembly plant on Monday, August 20.

In fact, one of the first 2013 Accord sedans has already arrived at the Hagerstown Honda dealership in Maryland, which not only released a video with photos of a beige example filled with balloons to hide the interior, but also announced specific details on the available trim levels and the standard features that you can check out after the jump.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The first series production version of the all-important and all-new 2013 Accord rolled off the assembly line at Honda's Marysville Auto Plant in the state of Ohio on Monday, August 20.

The Accord has been in continuous production at the Marysville Auto Plant since it began operations as the first Japanese automaker in the U.S. on November 1, 1982, with the assembly of the second generation of the Accord sedan.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

While in many parts of the world, passing a couple of police cruisers at speeds that exceed 220km/h (+137mph) can get you in a whole lot of trouble, this doesn't always seem to be the case in vast desert highways of the Arabian Peninsula, which are the playgrounds for those who practice the dangerous local sport of 'hagwalah'.

In this video, we see the driver and passenger of a Lexus model following a Honda Accord drifter on either side of the road before he decides to taunt several police cars including a Toyota FJ Cruiser and a Ford Crown Victoria.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Honda has released the first official photos of the production version of the ninth generation Accord in both four-door sedan and two-door coupe body styles before it goes on sale in North America this fall.

The appearance of the coupe variant shouldn't surprise anyone as the Japanese carmaker had previewed the model with a thinly disguised concept at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show in January this year.

As with the coupe, the new Accord sedan's looks are an evolution of the current, 8th generation model, though Honda would like you to believe that both body styles represent the "most sculpted" Accords ever.

"This car is the most sculpted and the most dynamic Accord yet," stated Vicki Poponi, assistant vice president of product planning for American Honda. "Following Honda's long-held philosophy of 'man maximum, machine minimum,' the beautiful exterior evolved from a focus on interior space and the needs of the people inside it."

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Customers at a Trader Joe’s parking lot in Claremont, California, were up for a surprise on Monday evening when the driver of a Honda Accord managed to make a simple exit out of a parking space into a huge and expensive mess when he landed on top of a first gen Lexus SC.

Local news site Claremont-Courier reported that according to eyewitnesses, Rod Kamitsuka backed his 1994 Honda Accord out of the parking and then somehow, the sedan moved forward hitting a handicapped parking sign, which acted as a ramp launching the car into the air and on to the roof of a 1998 Lexus SC 300.