Honda is preparing to swing hard at two of its most important nameplates. An executive teased a “substantially redesigned Accord that will feel like a new model” for next year, while an anonymous source told Automotive News the Passport is getting “more testosterone” — described bluntly as “a little more masculine.”
Those are loaded words for a company that has spent years playing it safe with conservative styling updates and incremental powertrain changes. The current Passport, despite a TrailSport trim that hints at off-road capability, has never quite escaped the shadow of the bigger Pilot. Honda apparently agrees it needs to stand on its own.
The TrailSport HRC Concept shown earlier this year pointed toward a more aggressive direction, with blacked-out cladding, wider fenders, and a stance that suggested Honda was studying what Toyota did with the 4Runner reboot and what Ford has done with the Bronco Sport. Whether the production version delivers on that promise or simply adds plastic trim and calls it a day remains the question.
The Accord story is arguably more interesting. Honda calling any refresh “substantial” enough to “feel like a new model” is unusual language for a midsize sedan that just received a full redesign for the 2023 model year. That generation brought a cleaner look and a simplified powertrain lineup leaning heavily on hybrid, but it hasn’t exactly set the sales charts on fire the way it did a decade ago.
The midsize sedan segment keeps shrinking, squeezed by crossovers, and even the Accord — once an untouchable franchise — has felt the pressure. So Honda finds itself in a familiar bind: how to keep two core nameplates relevant in a market that has moved toward trucks, SUVs, and electrified crossovers. The answer, apparently, is to push the Passport toward rugged credibility and give the Accord a design jolt strong enough to turn heads again.
This comes at a moment when Honda’s competitors are making bold moves of their own. Toyota can’t build RAV4s fast enough, with U.S. inventory reportedly down to less than five days’ supply as gas prices push buyers toward hybrids. Subaru just promised three new manual-transmission models for Japan, including a hatchback inspired by its Performance-B STI Concept.
The industry is in a strange, aggressive mood. Automakers that spent the last five years hedging their bets on electrification are now scrambling to shore up their internal-combustion lineups and fight for every remaining buyer in traditional segments.
Honda has the engineering talent and the brand equity to pull this off. The Accord remains one of the best-driving sedans in its class, and the Passport has a solid platform underneath it. But “more testosterone” and “feels like a new model” are marketing promises until sheet metal hits a showroom floor.
The real test is execution. Honda has a habit of underpromising and overdelivering on dynamics, then underdelivering on the kind of visual drama that gets people into dealerships in the first place. If these refreshes are as significant as the company is telegraphing, 2027 could mark a genuine reset for two nameplates that need one.
If they’re not, it’s just another press cycle of hype followed by mild disappointment — a pattern Honda can no longer afford.
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