A 12.3” screen in landscape orientation is found on 2023 Honda flagship sedan and sits on top of dashboard falling directly into driver’s peripheral vision
Times have changed and Honda seems to be at a major disadvantage in India. Its City and Amaze still climb up the ladder in sedan sales. However, volumes that Honda is pushing are rather meek. With SUV obsession dominating, sedan sales are confined mainly to B-segment and C-segment.
D-segment is not getting a lot of action with players like Skoda Superb and Toyota Camry seeming to have lost traction to SUVs. Honda and Hyundai used to have offerings in this space too. Hyundai had Sonata and Honda had its 8th gen Accord launched in India which ruled this segment in its brief stint.
9th generation was only found in a strong hybrid avatar. This was not well received and Honda never launched future generations in India. Will that change with 2023 Honda flagship Hybrid Accord? Let’s take a look.
2023 Honda Accord Flagship Sedan
Honda had teased an all-new Accord with a prominent Hybrid badging. This is the 11th generation of the Accord and is a hot-seller in North American market and a few South East Asian markets as well. It gets a new design language, which resonates with Accords of the past.
Front fascia is adorned by a large hexagonal grille, flanked by LED headlights and integrated LED DRLs. It gets a muscular bonnet and going by its wide track, one can assume a lot of stability and cornering ability.
At the rear, things are just as sharp as viewed from front. We can see sleek LED taillights that emerge from sides and propagate toward its center where Honda badge is situated. There is a black element in lower half of the rear bumper which helps reduce visual mass. We can find two rear fog lamps here, which might also be reflectors.
Accord badging is at the left and Hybrid badging is at the center. All in all, 2023 Honda flagship sedan, Accord, does come together neatly. Something that can’t be unanimously said about new Civic. Especially at the front. This is not a unilateral statement and has split opinions across the world.
Interiors & Powertrain
Interiors are mostly kept minimal with screens housing most controls. Despite the fact that buttons and knobs are superior as found in a recent study. This 12.3” screen is landscape-oriented and sits on top of dashboard falling directly into driver’s peripheral vision.
2.0L 4-cyl turbo petrol engine making 252 bhp of power and 370 Nm of torque is given a miss in favour of a 1.5L 4-cyl turbo petrol engine as standard. This engine makes 192 bhp and 260 Nm of torque coupled to a CVT. Peeps looking for a manual Accord, need to look elsewhere as it was last found on sale in 2020.
A hybrid system is standard with Sport, EX-L, Sport-L, and Touring trims. This 2.0L 4-cyl NA petrol engine acts as a generator to power its motor and also runs the car when needed, putting power down via a 2-speed transmission. Total system output is 204 bhp of power and 334 Nm of torque. Even though figures are down, acceleration and economy are expected to go up. Maybe Honda will bring back 2.0L Turbo as Accord Type R as they did with Civic Type R.
Pricing for MY2023 Accord isn’t revealed as of now. 2022 Accord LX costs $27,615 (approx 22.31 lakh), while the top-spec Touring trim costs $39,545 (approx 31.95 lakh). Honda Cars India is not likely to bring this to our shores any time soon. That being said, can it be a worthy opponent to Camry Hybrid that is priced at Rs. 45.25 lakh (ex-sh)? Heck yeah!
