New Honda Accord revealed

Honda is aiming to turbocharge the Accord's future.

The Japanese brand has announced the next-generation of its mid-size Accord sedan will ditch the naturally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 and replace it with a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-pot.

However, according to the car maker's North American arm, the company will also replace the current 2.4-litre four-cylinder with another smaller turbo four-pot.

The two most likely candidates to fill the two engine slots would be the 140kW/240Nm 1.5-litre turbo petrol that will be available in the new CR-V and a tweaked version of the 235kW/400Nm 2.0-litre engine found in the upcoming Civic Type-R.

Honda has revealed the 2.0-litre unit will be equipped with a new 10-speed automatic transmission that was developed in-house, which will be the first application for a front-wheel drive car. Meanwhile, the 1.5-litre unit is most likely to utilise a CVT auto.

A new Accord Hybrid will also join the range, although Honda hasn't yet offered any details about the hybrid powertrain except to say - like the previous version - the hybrid will use Honda's two-motor technology without a 'conventional' automatic transmission.

The Accord was once a sales powerhouse in Australia, however, now it is an afterthought in the mid-size segment. The Accord sold just 719 examples in 2016 while being dominated by the Toyota Camry ahead of the likes of the Subaru Liberty, Volkswagen Passat, Mazda6 and Ford Mondeo. Shockingly the Accord sold less than even by the much-derided Holden Malibu.

Honda is in desperate need of a new Accord with its sales continuing to slide in the year up to May by more than 50 per cent.

Honda Australia director, Stephen Collins, has previously said that the Accord's sales performance was under scrutiny and its future in doubt. The decline of the medium passenger car segment locally could potentially spell the end of the Accord down under, but Honda Australia is yet to announce its position on the new-generation model.

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