Honda News: Honda Gives the Mid-Size Sedan Segment Another Chance with the 2023 Accord

[Drew Dowdell]

Back in May, we reported about how The Family Sedan is on the Endangered List.  At the time of that article, there were 6 sedans left that didn't have news about being canceled.  That number has since dwindled to five as the news of the Nissan Maxima's pending extinction came out over the summer, leaving just the Accord, Camry, Altima, Legacy, and Charger. Today, Honda has refreshed its commitment to staying in the family sedan game with the release of the all-new 2023 Honda Accord.

The new Accord is longer and sleeker, with a broad stance that builds on the latest Honda design language. The lineup has been simplified while retaining 6 trim levels that now correlate with the engine selection. Sorry speed fans, the 252 horsepower 2.0T with 9-speed auto is gone.

The 11th-Generation Honda Accord will be powered either by a 192 horsepower / 192 lb.-ft 1.5 liter 4-cylinder turbo-charged engine that largely carries over from the previous generation (LX or EX) or a Atkinson cycle 2.0-liter naturally aspirated direct injected 4-cylinder paired with a two-motor hybrid system that produces 204 horsepower and 247 lb.-ft of torque(Sport, EX-L, Sport-L, and Touring). The hybrid system has fractionally less horsepower than the outgoing hybrid, but gains 15lb.-ft of torque. Honda expects 50% of Accord sales to be hybrid models.

The 1.5-liter has received refinements with an upgraded direct-injection system, and high-rigidity crankshaft and oil pan to reduce engine noise.  The CVT for the 1.5T has been updated to reduce noise and improve performance, including adding a step-shift program to simulate gear changes at full throttle.  Honda was unclear about the design of the hybrid transmission.

The exterior of the Accord has been simplified with a handsome, upright black-mesh grille. Overall length is up 2.8 inches with contributes to a longer hood  and flowing fastback roof line. Full width narrow LED taillights contribute visually to the Accord's wide stance.

The inside of the Accord was already the finest in the segment and while the materials have received upgrades, the design is evolutionary rather then revolutionary. A metal mesh dash spans the dash and conceals HVAC vents lending simplicity to the design.  The front seats are Honda's new Body Stabilizing design that reduce fatigue on long drives. The awkward push-button transmission controls of the outgoing model have been replaced with a more traditional shift lever that has been angled 5 degrees towards the driver to allow room for larger cup holders to the right.

Honda eschews the trend (thankfully) of iPad sized infotainment screens in favor of a relatively short 12.3-inch touch screen on hybrid models and a 7.0-inch unit on 1.5T models that doesn't overpower the dash. Noting the recent backlash against touch-sensitive controls, Honda wisely retains physical volume knobs and HVAC controls.  Top of the line Touring models gain Honda's first integration of Google built-in. This includes most popular apps such as Google Assistant, Google Maps, and select others from the Google Play store, with select vehicle functions controllable from the Google Assistant. Touring models also come with Qi wireless charging, a 6-inch heads up display, and a 12-speaker Bose Centerpoint Surround Sound system. Wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard on LX and EX models, while all Hybrid trims get upgraded to the wireless versions.  All versions of the Accord infotainment system can receive over-the-air updates.

On the safety front, the Accord's airbags are a new three chamber design meant to cradle the head and reduce neck rotation. Knee and rear-passenger side airbags are now standard.  Honda Sensing has also received updates with a new wider angle camera, wider angle radar, and improved ability to recognize objects such as vehicles, pedestrians, white lines, curbs, bicycles, and motorcycles.

The 2023 Accord will continue to be built in Marysville, Ohio where more than 12.5 million Accords have been produced since 1982.

 

 

 

 

 

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[G. David Felt]

What a blah inside and out car. I see nothing attractive about this car nor desirable.

[riviera74]

18 hours ago, David said:

What a blah inside and out car. I see nothing attractive about this car nor desirable.

Well, all the effort is going into the CR-V, the HR-V and the Pilot.  There are very few (new) sedan buyers these days.

[regfootball]

the Hybrid for mpg is appealing, but otherwise, this car regresses.  Vanilla, and not even fine vanilla.  

Good virtue being offered, room and space, etc.  Styling of all of Honda's new products are just flat and dead.  Beyond uninspiring.

But let's think of this.  At least Honda has 4 new redesigned core products coming out within a year.  HRV, CRV, Pilot, Accord.  Not to mention some new Acuras.  Not like Mary taking GM into the ground where they simply seem to be leaving the volume consumer segments left behind with no new product.  Oh sure, trucks.  But the competitors to those new Honda products are sure getting ignored.  The segments that people can actually afford.

Edited November 11, 2022 by regfootball

[riviera74]

OK.  Who is buying sedans in this SUV/CUV era?  Mary Barra made a business decision, and it seems to be successful right now.  Who is going to buy a NEW sedan for the rest of this decade?

[oldshurst442]

Riviera: "Who is going to buy a NEW sedan for the rest of this decade?"

 

 

Oldshurst:   

 

Hopefully this one

[oldshurst442]

The new Accord has a silhouette that resembles  an Opel/Buick  Insignia/Regal.  

 

The front looks like a Ford product. A mashup of a 2023 Mustang and 2018 Taurus

 

Id say Honda messed up on this one to look like old news American sedans...  Looks like Honda wants to euthanize their midsizer but doesnt have the heart and therefore are going for ugliness and to ensure failure to have an excuse to kill it off.  

I think it would have been best if Honda just sliced the Accord from the neck wth a Katana with one quick slice and be done with it... 

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by oldshurst442

[riviera74]

Ditch the Accord?  Next thing Honda would do is kill off the Civic!  (Neither of them will be terminated anytime soon).

[oldshurst442]

 I was being facetious.

But you were talking about a 1986 and 1990 Calais as uninispiring. 

Talk about uninispiring when looking at this new Accord though, right?  

 

But...dont be tooooo in shock if Honda actually axes the Accord.  Or even the Civic.  

The LX trim of the Civic has been nixed for 2023 raising the entry price for a Civic SIGNIFICANTLY...

The Civic sold 260 000 units for 2021.  Ford CANCELED the Fusion with those sales figs...

The CRX sold 100 000 units more than its equal platform mate which is the Civic.  If Civic sales go down,  and CRV sales go up, and the Integra doesnt budge the needle with nostalgic folk,  and the TLX doesnt entice folk, which really doesnt...both Honda sedans might get nixed when their EVs are going to be hitting the streets...  

 Hyundai/KIA is cleaning up everybodies lunches...   Hyundai is doing to the Japanese and German car makers what the  Japanese car makers did to the Americans and Germans in the 1980s and 1990s...

The Japanese car makers are NOW producing the so called unispiring products GM, Ford and Chrysler were producing in the 1980s and its Hyundai and KIA that are capitilizing on it.   Hyundai design is hip and fresh.  Japanese design is old and tired.  

 

[Drew Dowdell]

On 11/10/2022 at 9:26 PM, David said:

What a blah inside and out car. I see nothing attractive about this car nor desirable.

I think it is handsome and understated... bit of an Audi without the SCREAM mask grille up front.  I prefer the cleaner look of the interior that doesn't look like it is out of an A380 with loads of buttons.

 

On 11/12/2022 at 8:00 PM, riviera74 said:

OK.  Who is buying sedans in this SUV/CUV era?  Mary Barra made a business decision, and it seems to be successful right now.  Who is going to buy a NEW sedan for the rest of this decade?

At this point, there are only going to be three maybe four large sedans left (Accord, Altima, Camry, and Charger).  I guess the Crown as well but it looks so weird.  So Honda is hoping to catch a larger slice of a smaller pie.  And an Accord owner, if they switch to a crossover, is more likely to go back to the Honda dealer to trade than go to Toyota or Chevy.

 

On 11/13/2022 at 9:00 PM, oldshurst442 said:

The Civic sold 260 000 units for 2021.  Ford CANCELED the Fusion with those sales figs...

Ford had some other issue with the Fusion... I said so when they canceled it. They were pushing 250,000 Fusions a year in the US, plus also had China and EU sales.  If they can't make money on that, there was something very wrong in their accounting department.

[Drew Dowdell]

Doh... and Legacy

[oldshurst442]

3 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Ford had some other issue with the Fusion... I said so when they canceled it. They were pushing 250,000 Fusions a year in the US, plus also had China and EU sales.  If they can't make money on that, there was something very wrong in their accounting department.

As a Fusion owner, a 2013 1.6 ecoboost version,  there were far too many recalls to keep count. Like at least a dozen...  So I know first hand what is what and could assume safely that Ford rushed the Fusion to production and had too many nagging issues to fix after launch that cost FoMoCo several millions.  EV transitions and sedan sales diminishing and one could see why FoMoCo decided to axe a 250 000 unit/year sedan.  Fusion would have probably been a sales leader right now as the Fusion is a right sized sedan and good looking to boot.    

 

[Robert Hall]

I had a couple Fusions as rentals in 16/17 and thought they were quite nice, compared favorably to the other rentals I had then (2 generations of Malibu, Impala, Passat and Altima).  Good looking car..too bad the US never got the 5dr hatchback or the estate like Europe did w/ the Mondeo twin.

[oldshurst442]

2 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

too bad the US never got the 5dr hatchback or the estate like Europe did w/ the Mondeo twin.

The 5 dr hatch is what this car needed.   My wife and I would have most appreciated this. 

The trunk is huge on the Fusion but the roofline is too coupe-like.  The opening is also huge but the problem is that roof-line cuts in too much into the top of the trunk and one cant access the back of the trunk too well.   

 

Huge trunk opening....

And huge trunk

is 

 

But its a deep trunk and the back of the trunk is a bitch to get to.

[Robert Hall]

Agreed.  I’ve always preferred hatchbacks over sedans when models offered both body styles. 

[riviera74]

2 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

The 5 dr hatch is what this car needed.   My wife and I would have most appreciated this. 

 

Honda tried that.  It was a Crosstour (and Acura ZDX).  Neither sold well and both got axed in the same model year.

[oldshurst442]

50 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

Honda tried that.  It was a Crosstour (and Acura ZDX).  Neither sold well and both got axed in the same model year.

 Well, not quite.
Mind you, I LOVE the Crosstour.

The 5 Dr hatch Fusion actually doesnt look all that different from the regular Fusion. Its actually sleeker, but the profile is the same.  Not quite a hatch look to kill any success from American natives hatin' on hatchbacks.   But actually very sleek to counter the SUV craze. 

regular Mondeo/Fusion

 

Honda Accord Crosstour.   Wierd and ugly. It is unMISTAKENLY a hatchback which is killer for an American audience UNLESS its a CUV or SUV.  The Crosstour doesnt evoke ANY SUV-ness and its too proud to show itself as a hatchback.  The Acura ZDX is weirder and uglier, and it actually tries to resemble a CUV.  I wont post pics of it...because its too out there design wise.  It wanted to be too much of a SUV coupe thing to ever succeed. At least a BMW X6 had that gangsta vibe to it.  Russian mob badassery about it.  

 

The sedan Acoord is actually quite nicely styled. A bit boring, but Americans seem to like their boring Japanese family haulin' sedans. 

And the coupe was surprisngly a success story...when FWD coupes were an almost extinct species.  

 

So... in my opinion, I dont think a Fusion 5 Dr hatch would fair all that badly.  I think it would have sold more than what Honda mustered for the Crosstour. 

Edited November 16, 2022 by oldshurst442

[smk4565]

It looks boring.  All the new Hondas look boring, there are no body lines or styling cues, they just look super generic.  Might as well call this Government Sedan and the CRV Government SUV and give a year supply of government cheese with every new purchase to entice buyers.

[G. David Felt]

29 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

It looks boring.  All the new Hondas look boring, there are no body lines or styling cues, they just look super generic.  Might as well call this Government Sedan and the CRV Government SUV and give a year supply of government cheese with every new purchase to entice buyers.

Same thing for the EQ line from Mercedes, so generic and bland with no body lines. Just BLAH Government Sedan that needs Cheese thrown in for sales outside the Badge folks.

[Drew Dowdell]

I have to disagree with everyone who says this is blah.  It is a substantial improvement over the absolute disaster of a front end the outgoing model has. I always hated the way it looked especially with that HondaSense sensor hanging out there in front looking like a JC Whitney aftermarket add-on.  The interior of the outgoing model was easily best in class and in top trim would have been perfectly fine in an entry level Audi A4.

Honda has always had a conservative style on the Accord. It was NEVER going to look muscled like a Charger or something funky like the Camry.  That said, I think this looks almost Germanic. It's a svelte long-distance runner rather than a quarterback.  It's kinda "Audi-before the SCREAM grille" in feel.  Also, I think the longer hood really helps the overall proportions and is something that has been missing from FWD based cars for a long while.  As mentioned, the interior of the previous car wasn't an issue, but they've updated it for this car and kept it very handsome.

Here's one that will shock all of you who know my type of car.... this is the first Accord ever that, at least aesthetically, I could see myself owning. (Touring trim of course)

[G. David Felt]

As a person who normally does not spend much time on cars, I honestly do not remember the 22 out-going model. So, looking up to see what @Drew Dowdell is saying about the front end. Still blah to me, but Drew must be talking about the front-end square thing on the lower front grill of the touring model?

2022 Honda Accord

2022 Honda Accord Touring

2023 Honda Accord

[Drew Dowdell]

2 hours ago, David said:

As a person who normally does not spend much time on cars, I honestly do not remember the 22 out-going model. So, looking up to see what @Drew Dowdell is saying about the front end. Still blah to me, but Drew must be talking about the front-end square thing on the lower front grill of the touring model?

2022 Honda Accord

2022 Honda Accord Touring

2023 Honda Accord

Yes, that center one. HondaSense is available on lower models also.  It looks terrible in person.