Honda Accord has come a long way since it first arrived in Australia in 1977 as, believe it or not, a 1.6-litre three-door hatchback.
As well as growing in size over the years Accord has also grown in quality and is now bordering on luxury status but without the luxury price tag of its German rivals.
Previous models came with the option of a station wagon body but the SUV invasion quickly put paid to that.
Honda has now released details of the latest, 11th generation, Accord. It’s longer and sleeker with premium proportions and a broad stance, low horizontal beltline and a longer, more powerful front end.
New Accord couples the latest (4th generation) two-motor hybrid system with the latest 2.0-litre DOHC 4-cylinder Atkinson-cycle engine with improved power, NVH and environmental performance.
The petrol engine can be decoupled from the rest of the hybrid powertrain and so only operates as needed, depending on the state of battery charge and other parameters.
The newly developed engine delivers maximum power of 108 kW and maximum torque of 182 Nm.
It also comes with new and advanced active and passive safety technology including Honda SENSING, safety and driver-assistive technology made possible by an improved front camera and radar system.
An updated version of Honda’s Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure is designed to better protect occupants and pedestrians in the event of an accident.
Driver and front passenger knee airbags are used in Accord for the first time, along with side curtain airbags and side impact airbags for both driver and front passenger
Four colours are offered: Platinum White, Lunar Silver, Meteoroid Grey and Crystal Black.
All-new Accord features Honda’s first integration of Google built-in, which includes Google Assistant, Google Maps and the latest apps and services on Google Play. Seamless integration of navigation and live traffic updates are all offered with Google built-in.
The brand-new generation of Honda Connect, features a new user-friendly, refreshed Connected App interface, improved response time and a number of new features.
New Honda Accord is on sale now and comes as a single E:HEV RS variant, priced at $64,900 plus on-road costs.