Honda Accord 2019 confirmed for Australia

Honda Australia has revealed that the 10th-generation Accord mid-size sedan will join its local model line-up soon.

When speaking to journalists in St Kilda, Victoria this week, Honda Australia director Stephen Collins explained that despite the continuing drop in mid-size sedan sales, the new Accord will indeed be made available Down Under.

"Our plan with Accord is to launch it next year, most likely later next year," he said. "To this point, only left-hand drive is available.

"I can't go into details today, but we think the Accord name has been in the market for decades. It's our flagship sedan.

"Despite that segment continuing to drop… we just think it's an important model. We're working to finalise that… it's taken us time, but our plan is to launch it."

Despite the continuing drop in mid-size sedan sales, the new Accord will indeed be made available Down Under.

The new-generation Accord was unveiled in July last year, meaning it will be more than two years old by the time it hits Australian showrooms.

According to Mr Collins, the delay comes down to a lack of appropriate production availability.

"We'd prefer to have a shorter period of time, but it's currently not available in right-hand drive anyway. We'll get it as soon as we can," he said.

As the United States plant does not produce the car in right-hand-drive guise, Honda Australia will most likely import the car from Thailand, with a standard equipment in line with its positioning in the model line-up.

"The idea is we will have it as the flagship sedan, so we'll pack it full of features and technology," he said.

"At this point, we're not going to confirm (engines) yet, but the concept is we'll keep it – it's a flagship. It's an important nameplate, a global nameplate, although not in Japan."

The Accord mid-size sedan received a complete exterior and interior redesign for the new generation.

The list of possible powertrains include 145kW/260Nm 1.5-litre and 191kW/342Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engines as well as a 158kW hybrid that combines a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with two electric motors.

When asked if the hybrid powertrain option would suit the Accord's proposed flagship position, Mr Collins responded: "You can certainly make that argument, I think.

"We've just got to make sure that we can position it, price it to sell a reasonable number of them, which we were challenged with that with the previous one. That's pretty well known, so we're working through that now." 

The Accord mid-size sedan received a complete exterior and interior redesign for the new generation, as well as updated multimedia and upgraded technology that includes an expanded suite of 'Honda Sensing' advanced driver-assist safety features.

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