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“America’s Best Sedan” Gets More Expensive For 2020 Model Year

Honda claims the Accord is America’s best sedan, but how much of that is true? Given that the Civic and CR-V both outsold the Accord last year in the United States, the Japanese automaker wasn’t referring to the commercial success of the mid-size model.
2020 Honda Accord 12 photos
Photo: Honda
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Looking at the year-to-date sales gives us a better idea about how much the dealerships are struggling to get this model out of the showroom. From 322,655 examples of the breed in 2017 to 291,071 in 2018, it’s crystal clear the Accord has seen better days.

Despite these shortcomings, Honda decided that the best way to ramp up sales is to hike up the price from $23,720 to $23,870 excluding $930 for the destination charge. The Japanese brand also makes a case for “the only mid-size sedan in its class offering a manual transmission,” and as much as we love the three-pedal setup, a smooth-shifting manual is better for everyday driving and rental companies such as Hertz.

The manual is available in the Sport trim level with the 2.0-liter turbo, priced at $31,060 without freight. But here’s the kicker; leveling up to the 10-speed automatic for the same trim and engine costs $31,060, and that shows how greedy Honda can be.

Adding insult to injury, both transmissions return 26 miles to the gallon and similar figures for city and highway driving. Customers can also get the stick shift in the Sport with the 1.5-liter turbo but the optional continuously variable transmission is more efficient.

What we do like about the Accord, however, is that the Sensing suite is standard across all trims and includes Traffic Sign Recognition. Honda has also developed a hybrid option, but pricing for the 2020 model will be announced separately from the ICE-only lineup.

All of the Accords for the U.S. market are manufactured locally by the Marysville plant in Ohio, and some parts are also made stateside to bring the point home. But as Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors drop conventional-bodied passenger cars in favor of SUVs and trucks, Honda has to make the most out of the mid-cycle refresh of the Accord.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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