New 2013 Honda Accord to debut on August 20 in US

The 2013 Honda Accord will make its debut in the US on Monday, August 20. The Accord will also make an India debut next year.

The new Accord has significant stylistic changes compared to the existing Accord, although the design is slightly retro in comparison. Honda claims the new Accord has an even sportier driving character than the existing Accord. It will also launch a two-door coupe body style along with the four door sedan.

The Accord is one of the best-selling sedans in the US market, second only to the Toyota Camry in sales. The new Accord follows Honda’s design philosophy of “man maximum, machine minimum”, which means the company focuses primarily on interior space and comfort, while keeping the cars packaging extremely tight. The car is supposedly shorter than the existing Accord, but has more luggage space and passenger legroom.

The Accord will be powered by a 2.4 litre, 16-valve iVtec petrol four-cylinder engine with direct injection. It will come with a six-speed manual transmission and also a CVT automatic. Honda claims the new Accord with the 2.4 litre petrol engine will give a mileage of 14.3 kmpl.

It will also have a V6 3.5 litre variant, which will feature cylinder deactivation – which means it can run like a four cylinder when additional power is not needed, thereby saving fuel.

A third petrol-electric hybrid variant is also planned. This Accord will likely have a 2-litre petrol engine with a combined 6-KWh litihium-ion battery electric motor. The car will feature three drive modes – all electric, hybrid and direct-drive or petrol only for highway driving.

The Accord has been seeing slow sales in the Indian market due to the lack of a diesel engine. Last month the Accord sold only 39 units in the Indian market. Honda may consider a diesel 2.2 iDtec for the Accord and CR-V by 2014, but there are no confirmed plans for this. Honda’s first diesel for the Indian market is likely to be a 1.2 litre diesel that will first appear in the Honda Brio by early 2013.