Honda Accord Coupe Concept: The Shape Of Things To Come

By Motoring Channel Staff - 16/Jan/2006

Detroit, USA — The Accord is one of Honda's best-selling cars at the moment, experiencing high sales right across the Americas, Europe and of course Asia and Australia. Building on the Accord's revitalised image Honda unveiled the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe Concept at the Detroit auto show.

This new concept gives us a sneak peak at what could end up being an all-new sports model for the Japanese car maker.

At present, Honda's biggest selling car in North America is the Accord, so launching the coupe version at what is America's biggest motor show makes a lot of sense.

Honda explains that this new concept hints at the 8th generation Accord, which is due to arrive in the next couple of years.

"The Accord Coupe Concept demonstrates the styling direction for the upcoming, eighth-generation Accord," said John Mendel, senior vice president of American Honda. 

"As the industry's target for midsize segment excellence, the all-new Accord will set a new benchmark for safety, efficiency, performance, refinement and style."

According to Honda, the styling of the concept car conveys a powerful stance through its long hood, deeply sculpted lower body and fastback roofline. A six-sided grille and projector headlamps that recess deep into the front wheel arches contribute to an unmistakably assertive front fascia. 

If you look at the rear, quad exhaust outlets are cleanly integrated into the rear diffuser, and Honda believes these help to further convey performance and style beyond any Accord to date.

On top of the new design - the most important part of any concept car being shown for the first time - the Accord Coupe Concept features a new power plant. As Honda explains, more powerful and lower-emission V6 engines will provide improved fuel efficiency with the incorporation of Honda's next-generation Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) technology, which can shut down cylinders to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Furthermore, and as part of Honda's "Safety for Everyone" initiative, Honda claims that all next-generation Accord models will include the company's Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) Body Structure. Honda's ACE Body Structure incorporates a front-end frame structure that helps absorb and disperse crash energy over a large area in a frontal impact and also makes the vehicle more crash compatible in frontal impacts with vehicles of differing ride heights, such as SUVs.

At present, the current generations of the Odyssey ('05), Civic ('06) and CR-V ('07) all have the ACE Body Structure. 

Together, the ACE-equipped vehicles represent more than 50 percent of all 2007 Honda vehicles sold on a sales-weighted basis. With the addition of the next-generation Accord to the lineup of vehicles with ACE, more than 75 percent will be equipped with the technology on a sales-weighted basis after it goes on sale, says Honda.

Accord History

The Honda Accord, currently in its seventh generation in 30 years, remains Honda's best-selling vehicle worldwide and has consistently been one of the top five best-selling automobiles in the U.S. Known for its ride and handling, comfort and convenience features, safety, quality and refinement, the Accord delivers world-class style with sophistication and performance. The Accord was launched in 1976 with subsequent major re-designs debuting in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2003. More than 9.5 million Accords have been sold in the U.S. since 1976.

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