Accord 50th Anniversary: The Evolution of a Model in Harmony with People and the Times
Since its introduction in 1976, the Honda Accord has evolved its environmental performance, driving performance, and safety under the philosophy of being “a car in harmony with people and the times,” while adopting advanced technologies ahead of its era. Delivered to customers in more than 160 countries and regions worldwide, with cumulative sales exceeding 25 million units, the Accord has played a key role in supporting Honda’s global expansion.
Marking its 50th anniversary, this feature looks back on the evolution of each generation and explores the ideas and passion behind its technology and design.
Accord's 50-Year Journey in Harmony with People and the Times
Since its introduction in 1976, the Accord has always aimed to be a car in harmony with people and the times. Beginning with the first-generation model equipped with the CVCC engine, which met the stringent emissions regulations that were considered difficult to achieve at the time, the Accord has continued to evolve its environmental performance, safety, and usability. This article explores its 50-year journey and the philosophy that remains unchanged.
Accord: 50 Years of Technology Pursuing Comfortable Driving and Environmental Performance
The history of the Accord is also a history of technological innovation in pursuit of both comfortable driving and environmental performance. This article explores the technologies and philosophy that have been built up over the years, from the groundbreaking CVCC and Honda's proprietary G20A engine to the electrification technologies carried forward into the 11th-generation Accord.
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Honda TechnologyHarmony with the Environment and with Society: The CVCC and FF Package that Reshaped Global Ideas About CarsAutomobilesThe Accord, its name meaning “harmony,” was created in 1976. In 1972, Honda had launched the Civic. Primarily developed as a user-friendly everyday car, the Civic was designed to be a standard car that was competitive in the world market. The following year, 1973, Honda added to the Civic lineup a model with a CVCC engine, the first engine in the world to satisfy requirements ...
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Honda TechnologyThe Accord: Evolution of the Global-Standard Sedan. The Advanced Mechanisms Defined by VTEC and the M/M (Man Maximum, Machine Minimum) ConceptAutomobilesSince its debut in 1976, the Accord had sold a cumulative total of 5 million units across three generations, firmly establishing itself as one of Honda’s core models. In September 1989, it underwent a full model change to attain its fourth-generation form. Developed based on the concept of “the ultimate world-quality sedan,” it set out to enrich people’s lives through technology. A Honda ...
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Honda TechnologyAccord Hybrid: Further Innovative Technology and Harmony Honda’s Unique e:HEV Hybrid System and Honda SENSING 360+AutomobilesThe ninth-generation Accord, which underwent a full model change in June 2013, combined the refined essence of a sedan with an innovative hybrid system, creating a new sense of harmony in the electrification era. The vision of the chief engineer for the Accord, gathered from press materials at the time of the launch, was as follows: “Driving, turning, stopping—every fundamental ...
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Honda StoriesCR-V 30th Anniversary: Behind the Scenes Developing the SUV Loved All Over the WorldThe CR-V is a new-value SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) that Honda launched in 1995. Since then, it has been a best-selling model loved worldwide. As the CR-V reaches its 30th anniversary in 2025, this issue of Honda Stories takes a behind-the-scenes look at the CR-V's development, and introduces the innovations it brought to the industry. In the 1990s, Honda entered the RV (recrea
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Honda StoriesA FUN EV, True to Honda. The development story of Super-ONE, boosting everyday lifeHonda will launch its third light and compact EV, the Super-ONE, in Japan in May 2026. Building on the experience gained through the development of previous light EVs and the practicality refined along the way, this model takes a deliberate step forward by embracing FUN — the joy of driving. It represents a new challenge: to deliver a sense of excitement behind the wheel in an EV...
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Honda DesignPRELUDE - A Prelude to The Era of Electrification Aesthetics of "Containment and Liberation" Embodied in DesignThe iconic Honda car "PRELUDE" returns after a quarter of a century as a bridge to the era of electrification. The goal is to become a next-generation electric specialty sports model that embodies the "joy of driving." Hideaki Uchino, the Creative Director who oversaw the entire design, including the concept, is a huge fan of the PRELUDE series and joined Honda with the ambitio