2013 Honda Accord Nominated to Car of the Year Short List

The all-new 2013 Honda Accord has only just gone on sale, but it’s already up for one of the U.S. auto industry’s most prestigious honors: The North American Car of the Year award, presented each year during the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit.
The Accord took its first steps toward joining past Honda Car (and Truck) of the Year winners by recently being named to the award’s short list—a selection of the top new or significantly redesigned vehicles offered for North American buyers. The next stage in the process will occur in December, when three finalists are announced, with the overall winners scheduled to be revealed in January, at the opening of the 2013 NAIAS.
Certainly among the favorites for the honor, the Accord family actually includes two members: The sedan, on sale now for $21,680, and the coupe, on its way to dealerships with a starting price of $23,350. Both packages wrap the latest technologies in taut new sheet metal, and add increased power—and efficiency—over their 2012 counterparts. For example, the previous Accord sedan had a standard I4 engine that delivered 177 hp, 161 lb.-ft. of torque and EPA ratings of 23 mpg city/34 mpg highway/27 mpg combined with a five-speed automatic transmission; the completely redesigned 2013 model offers 185 hp (+4.5 percent), 181 lb.-ft. of torque (+12.4 percent), a six-speed automatic (+20 percent) and an EPA line of 27/36/30 (+11.1 percent in combined driving).
Other Honda vehicles that have come up big in the North American Car and Truck of the Year voting include:
2012—Honda CR-V (finalist)
2008—Honda Accord (finalist)
2007—Honda Fit (finalist)
2006—Honda Civic (winner), Honda Ridgeline (winner)
2003—Honda Element (finalist)
2001—Honda Insight (finalist)