Honda needs new Accord to be a hit in US

YPSILANTI, Mich. (Reuters): Honda Motor Co needs the next generation of its bread-and-butter mid-sized car, the Accord, to be a hit in the United States.

The Japanese automaker is counting on the 2013 Accord, being launched this month, to recapture share in the U.S. market’s largest and most competitive segment. Rivals are not standing still, with Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co , General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co rolling out redesigned models of their own.

“There’s no question that Accord is the single most important model in our lineup,” Honda Vice President Mike Accavitti said at an event outside Detroit to introduce the car. Analysts have said the new Accord needs to be a home run for Honda, whose 2012 Civic small car was criticised by some reviewers for uninspired design and bumpy ride. The success of the new Accord, which includes a new generation of engines and transmissions to boost fuel efficiency, is also crucial for Honda’s global sales ambitions.

Honda has set a global sales target of 4.3 million vehicles in the financial year to March 2013, up 38% from the previous year, with North America to account for about 40% of the total. Honda expects to sell almost 1.3 million vehicles in the United States this year.

With an annual sales target in the U.S. market of 350,000 cars for the ninth-generation Accord, Honda has a big challenge as it has seen the car’s market share in its segment shrink from 15.7% in 2009 to 12.2% so far this year, according to TrueCar.com.

Analysts questioned whether Honda can get back to 300,000 annual Accord sales. It has sold almost 220,000 through August, up 35% from last year but far off the pace of 1998 through 2001 when Accord’s U.S. sales annually topped 400,000.

The Accord sedan will go on sale Sept. 19, followed by the coupe version in October and a plug-in hybrid version early next year. A conventional hybrid model will go on sale in the summer of 2013. Honda has not disclosed the pricing for the 2013 Accord, but it is expected to be similar to the current model, which starts at $22,280. In a still-recovering market where automakers battle for every sale, that could be key as consumers focus on price and value, analysts said.