2007 Honda Accord Concept

The Honda Accord is Honda’s best-selling North American model. Introduced in the mid-70’s, the Accord would be the most popular Japanese vehicle in the U.S. for almost two decades, until it was knocked off its throne by the Toyota Camry in 1998. Honda has never before taken the step of bringing an Accord concept car to a major American auto show, but that all changes with the unveiling of the 2007 Honda Accord Concept in Detroit.


The Accord Concept has adopted a much more aggressive look than the coupe currently being sold. It is obvious that Honda has decided to make a major push for the Accord to recapture the import sales crown, and they feel the best way to do so is to remake the Accord with more of a sporting image. With 40 percent of current Accord coupe buyers under 30 years of age, Honda is hoping that the re-design will give them an even larger chunk of the youth market.

With a brutish, thick front end, the nose of the Accord is almost truck-like, especially when viewed from the side. A long nose rests over the large front wheel arches, and the front fenders are dominated by rectangular headlights that shrink to a point at the middle of the fender flare. Continuing the hard angles of the front end are sharp inlets at each side of the bumper, into which are recessed projector-style fog lights. A honeycomb grille is the centerpiece, and a strangely plain lower air vent composed of horizontal bars is cut into the front air dam. The rear of the car bears a flat, almost vertical trunk lid in keeping with the fastback-style roofline, not unlike Cadillac in the 1980’s or Acura in the late 90’s. A small groove is cut into the trunk to separate it from the top of the rear bumper, and just below the bumper 4 exhaust outlets are Frenched into a solid air diffuser. The taillights make the vehicle quite identifiable as an Accord, and serve as a link to the previous generation of coupe.

While their lips were sealed regarding the specifics of the power plant nestled beneath the hood of the 2007 Honda Accord Concept, the future Accord Coupe will be based off of this concept vehicle, and corporate spokesmen were more willing to discuss engine options for the production vehicle. According to Honda, the Coupe will offer a new V6 option that will provide drivers with more power than the current model, with fewer emissions. Honda is also aiming to increase the fuel mileage of the Accord with their Variable Cylinder Management technology. Similar to the cylinder deactivation systems used by Chrysler and General Motors in their V8 engines, Honda claims that VCM will not incur any power loss while in operation. Given that Honda currently has the best corporate fuel economy of any automaker in the world, it is likely that they will be able to follow through on these promises.

The Accord Concept also incorporates what Honda calls Advanced Compatibility Engineering Body Structure, which is a fancy way of saying that the vehicle’s frame and front end are specially designed to dissipate the destructive energy of a crash. The technology is also engineered to deal with the more dangerous types of crashes involving vehicles at different ride heights, where bumpers are less effective and the danger to vehicle occupants is great.

Honda’s strong desire to emerge victorious in the sales numbers game can only have positive consequences for consumers. Given that Toyota does not offer a coupe version of the Camry, it will be difficult for them to compete with the stylish and sporty-looking Accord Concept.





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May 18, 2008, 6:04 am