When Honda gave us the first teasers of the all-new 11th-generation Accord, everyone online – including us – gushed about its appearance. But much like how a face mask might make someone look better, the shadowy photos too, perhaps slightly disingenuously, helped hide the car’s boring looks. We’re sorry.
That’s because the teasers already showed off the most interesting bits about the car’s design. The front fascia, with the CR-V-inspired slim inset headlights flanking the hexagonal grille, is perhaps the most attractive design element on the entire exterior styling. And at the back, the full-width LED tail lights’ multi-layered design is… well, at least something that’ll catch your attention.
Everything else on the 11th-gen Accord is almost completely devoid of any defining character. The bumpers are as generic as they come, and the rest of the body panels don’t fare any better. To us, it’s probably not too far from what an AI would’ve come up with if it was asked to draw a “car”, but we’ll let you be the judge.
It’s fortunately a lot more palatable on the inside, with an overall dashboard design similar to what we’ve seen on the all-new Civic. A mesh panel dominates the entire width, hiding the air vents for the climate control system, while sitting atop the dashboard is a brand-new 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment display with Google apps and services built in. The screen is the biggest ever fitted onto a Honda vehicle, by the way.
Looking closer, however, and you’d pick up on some of the similarities to the outgoing model: the climate control panel, window switches, and centre console seems to be inherited from the 10th-gen model, save for some mild cosmetic changes.
That’s because despite it being called an “all-new” model, the 2022 11th-generation Honda Accord is actually built upon the same underpinnings as the 10th-generation model. Looks wise, they even share roughly the same silhouette and dimensions on the outside, save for its slightly longer overall length (width, height and wheelbase are unchanged).
Still, Honda says that they’ve added extra braces and supports to help improve its ride, handling, and overall refinement, while the suspension has also been retuned to make the Accord more “fun to drive”.
In terms of powertrain, the all-new Honda Accord in the US will be offered with either a 1.5-litre turbocharged inline-four and CVT combo with 192 hp and 260 Nm, or an e:HEV hybrid 2.0-litre inline-four (Atkinson Cycle) that makes 204 hp and 335 Nm. Both powertrains send drive to the front wheels.
While the all-new model is due to go on sale in North America soon, don’t expect it to make its way over to the rest of the world anytime soon, or at all. Previous reports suggest that the all-new model will remain a US exclusive for now, and even if it does make it to Asia, they’re usually staggered by about 12 to 18 months, as the 10th-gen model demonstrated.
If the 11th-generation model does indeed follow the same timeline, expect to see the all-new Honda Accord to be in our showrooms sometime in 2024.
Keyword: The all-new 11th-gen Honda Accord looks so dull, it might as well have been designed by AI