Honda Accord

The Honda Accord is series of midrange automobile manufactured by Honda since 1976 and sold in most automotive markets throughout the world. The Accord became the first Japanese car to be produced in the US in 1982, when production commenced in Marysville, Ohio at Honda's Marysville Auto Plant. It is also produced in Guangzhou, China since the 1999 inception of the Guangzhou Honda Joint Venture. The Accord has achieved considerable success, especially in the United States, where it was the best-selling Japanese car for 20 years (1982-97), topping its class in sales in 1991 and 2001, with around ten million sold there in total. Numerous test, past and present count the Accord as one of the world's most reliable vehicles.

Over the years, Honda has offered several different body styles and versions of the Accord, and often vehicles marketed under the Accord nameplate concurrently in different regions differ quite substantially. It debuted in 1976 as a compact hatchback, though this style was dropped in the 1980s, as the lineup was expanded to include a sedan, coupe, and wagon. By the Accord's sixth generation in the 1990s, it evolved into a intermediate vehicle, with one basic platform but with different bodies and proportions increase its competitiveness against its rivals in different international markets. For the current generation of Accord released for the North American market in 2008, Honda again has chosen to move the model further upscale and increase in its size. This pushed the Accord sedan from the upper limit of what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines as a mid-size car to just above the lower limit of a full-size car, with the coupe still rated as a mid-size car.

Concept

Honda chose the name Accord, reflecting "Honda's desire for accord and harmony between people, society and the automobile." The initial design was changed to a fuel efficient, low emission vehicle since it was introduced during the fuel crises of the 1970s. In the United States and Japan, a version was produced using Honda's CVCC technology, meeting emission standards of the 1970s and early 1980s without a catalytic converter.