Honda Accord range now available with auto diesel option

The new Honda Accord range introduced last year, from January 2009 has an automatic transmission option to go with its latest second generation 2.2 i-DTEC diesel engine. This is the first time ever Honda has offered any diesel car with an auto gearbox.

The Accord may be the first but it will not be the last. Having finally woken up to the idea five years ago that customers, especially fleet and company car users, want more fuel efficient diesel models, Honda decided not to be rushed and to design and build their own four-cylinder, ‘oil-burner’ rather than use a joint venture product.

Now they have finally got the message that ‘the customer’ also likes the option of an automatic transmission to go with diesel engine and that auto gearboxes are not just suitable for petrol engines. Honda have now unblocked their thought processes so expect their CR-V, Civic and FR-V diesel models to receive the auto option as well.

The Honda Accord Saloon and Tourer models sell in the D-segment (upper medium sector) of the new car market - Mondeo land. In addition to the Ford product this segment is dominated by new models, the Accord, Toyota Avensis, Vauxhall Insignia, Citroen C5 and Renault Laguna. Then there are the older long termers such as the Lexus IS 220d, Peugeot 407 and VW Passat not to mention aspirational premium models such as the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

It’s a tough and declining market. UK sales in this sector dropped by 11.8% last year but with 340,796 registrations it remains the third largest segment of the UK new car market. This segment is dominated by fleet and business buyers so competition is fierce and every rung of the company car ladder has to be covered by the right model with the right specification at the right price.

Honda UK says that 70% of Accord sales go to fleet and business customers, mainly diesel models, and they estimate that 20% of users will opt for the new automatic/diesel combination. Up to now auto transmissions have only been available for the 2.0/2.4-litre petrol Accord models.

Honda expects to sell around 8,000 Accords in the UK in 2009, up from the 6,321 it sold in 2008. Saloon models are likely to take over 75% of Accord sales. The latest published prices for Accord diesel auto saloon models range from £22,400 to £28,000, Tourer auto models from £23,700 to £29,300 but the recent Vat adjustments will take a few hundred pounds of these figures.

An up to date price list has yet to be published at the time of writing. However it looks as though the auto gearbox adds in the region of £1,273 to the price of the car over a manual version but Honda says there are also slight specification differences which affect the price comparisons.