2023 Honda Accord revealed in America, but don't hold your breath yet, Australia

Honda America has revealed the 2023 Accord sedan, bringing with it a two-drivetrain range with a hybrid and non-hybrid across six variants.

An important model for the brand in the US, the Honda Accord sells in the thousands each month, and this new generation carries Honda’s hopes to take on the Toyota Camry.

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With Honda anticipating more than 50 per cent of its sales will be with the hybrid drivetrain, which powers the top four of the six variants available in the US, it’s the electrified drivetrain that’s the headline.

A 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine is paired with a hybrid system for an output of 152kW and 335Nm, compared to the much less torquey 143kW/260Nm in the 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol found in the two lower-spec variants.

Whether the new Accord comes to Australia isn’t clear, and an announcement from the US doesn't bear any correlation to Australia, but there’s some reasoning to suggest if the new Accord does come here, it won’t be looking for sales volume.

Honda America points out that the Accord is the best-selling passenger car in the country over the last half a century, though the segment is dwindling and even its closest rival, the Toyota Camry sedan, has sold twice as many in the US (about 244,000 Camrys vs 122,000 Accords) this year so far.

Here in Australia, the Accord - which launched in its current iteration about three years ago at the end of 2019 - isn’t exactly top of the list for sales, though the nameplate itself is important for the brand.

Of the four Honda models currently still on sale in Australia, the Accord is a distant fourth behind the run-out CR-V (which has sold 6835 units this year), the HR-V (4139 so far), and even the now quite high-spec - and priced as such - Civic (699 sold in 2022).

Honda Australia has only shifted 92 Accords this year, meaning it has a market share of less than one per cent in the ‘medium cars under $60,000’ segment, which overall has a 1.3 per cent of the market in 2022.

It trails behind the enduring segment leader, the Toyota Camry and its 8674 units sold, the Mazda 6 with 1113, and cars like the Hyundai Sonata, Volkswagen Passat, and Skoda Octavia, which have all sold in the hundreds this year.

If Honda Australia brings the new generation Accord here, it’ll likely be in only higher specification in line with the company’s new positioning to move further upmarket.

Despite the fact Accord returns low sales figures, a high-spec model in low figures could be justifiable to the local arm.

Consider this on top of the fact Honda Australia discontinued the Civic Sedan in favour of directing customers towards the Accord, which it recently said still has a dedicated circle of customers, and it shouldn’t be ruled out that the Accord could make its way to Australia, even if not in a big way.