2021 Honda Accord: Expectations and what we know so far

2021 Honda Accord: What we know so far

The Honda Accord midsize sedan has been a perennial inclusion in Honda’s local lineup. In the global automotive market, it's been around since 1976, and has since been a market mover for the Japanese brand.

In 2021, we’re expecting no changes for the Philippine-spec Honda Accord. In other words, the same old model that was sold last year will be carried over.

In other parts of the world though, the Accord as a model has undergone a minor facelift. It gets a revised grille and new wheel designs. The caveat however is the sole manual variant that everyone is gushing about is now gone. So, for those Accord fans who are wanting to relive the Accord’s glory years back in the late 1990s to the early 2000s, when it still had a local manual variant, well too bad.

The Honda Accord Philippine-spec version

So, what can we expect from the 2021 PH-spec Honda Accord? 

2021 Honda Accord: Exterior

For the PH-spec Accord for this year, not much will change. It will still have the same dimensions, and it will still bear the same exterior looks.

That said, the current Accord is already a handsome looking car. It also has a set of modern features like its LED headlights, an LED signal light with side repeaters, front fog lamps, an LED taillight, as well as a set of 18-inch alloy wheels. 

The PH-spec Accord as it is right now, is a handsome-looking sedan

As we’ve said, the 2021 facelift bears a slightly different design, especially from the front. Like the Civic Type R facelift, the updated Accord bears a wider grille, with three chrome-colored slats running across it. According to rumors, the slats were added to provide better integration for the Honda Sensing Suite’s radar sensors. The headlamps also look different as well.

>>> Related: Honda Sedan models available in the Philippines: Specs, price and brief review

The 2021 facelifted Honda Accord that's yet to be released in the Philippines

2021 Honda Accord: Interior

Inside, the current Honda Accord available in the Philippines can fit up to five people. Occupants are kept comfortable by an automatic air-conditioning system, and its seats are clad in leather. For the driver, he/she has access to an electronically adjustable front seat, a tilt and telescopic steering wheel, a digital gauge cluster and trip computer, adaptive cruise control, and a push to start button. 

Inside the PH-spec Accord

Keeping the Accord’s occupants entertained is an 8-inch touchscreen that can connect to one’s phone via Bluetooth, USB, Apple CarPlay, or Android Auto. It also has access to offline navigation. 

The 2021 facelift that’s not yet available locally also comes with the aforementioned features. The front USB ports, however, were relocated to the front of the center console.  

2021 Honda Accord: Engine and Performance

Under the hood, the PH-spec Accord uses a 1.5-liter inline-4 turbo capable of making up to 187 horsepower and 260 Nm of torque. It uses a continuously variable transmission with paddle shifters, and power is sent to the front wheels. 

For suspension, the Accord uses a MacPherson strut-type for the front and a multi-link type for the rear. It also gets disc brakes all around, as well as an electronic parking brake with an auto-brake hold function. 

The Honda Accord EL Turbo CVT's engine

Mechanically, the 2021 facelifted version hasn’t changed that much. Do note however that there are other engine options for the Honda-made model that isn’t available here. There’s the 2.0-liter hybrid powertrain and the 2.0-liter K20 inline-4 turbo. 

2021 Honda Accord: Safety

As for safety, the Philippine-spec Accord comes with a very comprehensive safety kit. It has four airbags, stability control, anti-lock braking with electronic brake-force distribution, speed-sensing door locks, a lane departure warning system w/ lane-keeping aid, and an engine immobilizer with a security alarm.  

Adding on to the local Accord’s safety kit are parking sensors, reverse and front camera, rain-sensing wipers, hill start assist, rain-sensing wipers, and automatic headlamps. 

For the facelifted 2021 version that’s yet to arrive here, the Honda Safety Suite has received a lot of changes. For specific trims, it now gets the new Low Speed Braking Control System, which aids a driver to avoid collisions at low speeds.

For example, during parking. The adaptive cruise control’s braking has also been smoothed out, and the lane keep assist has been updated to be more precise.  

2021 Honda Accord: Final Thoughts 

As of the moment, our ASEAN neighbors who usually get the new models first, are yet to receive the facelifted Accord. As such, we can deduce that it might take a bit of waiting for it to even reach Philippine shores.

To this end, the Accord as it is right now, won’t change for 2021. If for some reason Honda PH decides to suddenly introduce the facelifted model locally, the author of this article will gladly devour a piece of paper.   

The current version that's available is a great car, but we're sure that are waiting for the facelifted version

Do note though that Thailand already has the Accord Hybrid version (pre-facelift). For now, though, Honda PH is yet to give hints as to how it plans to update the PH-spec Accord. Also, Hybrid sedans are not deemed as a hot commodity in the local car market, so seeing the Hybrid Accord here might be too far of a stretch.

2021 Honda Accord: Expected Price

Currently, the sole variant of the Accord, the EL Turbo CVT w/ Honda Sensing, is priced at Php 2,308,000. As we’ve pointed out before though, pricing for a model might change just as we switch over to the new year.

If the facelifted Accord gets a local launch in the future, we can expect this new version to be priced higher than the local PH-spec version. It does, after all, come with the latest Honda Sensing Safety suite.

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