Honda Accord Tourer Concept
It’s the year of the Accord for Honda, and the Japanese automaker wants to keep the momentum going on all continents. For Europe, that means the world debut of the Accord Tourer concept at the Frankfurt auto show.
It may be a concept, but Honda says it represents the design direction of the production version of the next-generation Tourer that is set to debut in mid-2008 in Europe. The all-new wagon sports a wider, lower look in its newest iteration.
The European-spec vehicle likely will follow past practice of being smaller and more narrow than Hondas sold in North America. We certainly expect this to be the case, as the new 2008 Accord sedan for the U.S. has grown to the extent that it is technically now classified as a full-size passenger car, moving up a segment from its mid-size roots. The current European Accord is sold as the Acura TSX in the U.S.
The Accord Tourer will have Honda’s hallmark range of low-emissions engines, and the automaker says it has new chassis technology for better handling. More details to come, we’re promised.
The Honda stand in Frankfurt also will be used to showcase a host of environmental technologies including the Small Hybrid Sport concept that we first saw in Geneva earlier this year. Like the original Insight hybrid, the concept is a dedicated hybrid. Also on display will be the Civic hybrid, the FCX concept (a fuel-cell-powered vehicle), and Honda’s next-generation clean-diesel engine.
Racing fans can check out Honda’s current F1 race car, the RA107 piloted by Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The car is a mentor of sorts for the Civic Type R
and S2000 production models with which it will share floor space.
Rounding out the Honda experience will be a collection of motorcycles; the world’s first production motorcycle airbag system; the HondaJet; and ASIMO, the humanoid robot.
Related News and Reviews:
