DOWN Swindon way, the Honda people have been in celebration mode this year, for 2007 actually marked the 30th anniversary of the refined and capable Accord saloon.
The first generation Honda Accord went on sale in the UK in 1977 after being launched initially in the US and Japan.
That was the year in which supersonic passenger plane Concorde commenced regular service, Rocky won the Best Film Oscar, the first Star Wars movie was released and the Atari 2600 game system entered the marketplace.
There were celebrations, too, for Her Majesty the Queen as 1977 marked the Silver Jubilee of her reign and while Paul McCartney with his new group Wings took Mull of Kintyre to the number one spot in the singles charts the pop music world mourned the death of Elvis Presley.
Seven generations on with more than 15,800,000 sold across the globe, the Honda Accord has evolved into a significant corporate model equipped with the latest advanced technology, great driving dynamics, an acclaimed diesel engine and a steadfast reputation for reliability.
The Accord has picked up many awards along the way, becoming Japanese Car of the Year, 1982, 1985 and 1986 while later years saw the seventh generation Accord become Best Estate Car 2004 and 2006 in Auto Express magazine's honours list.
The next generation Honda Accord is set to go on sale in the UK in the summer of 2008, and production versions of both the Saloon and Tourer versions are to debut at the Geneva Motor Show to be held in March.
During 2007, the current Accord has been highly-commended in the What Car? Reliability Survey and earned the prestigious award of 'most reliable model' in the Fleet News industry survey - the FN50.
This success is also mirrored by Accord's rapidly improving status in the corporate sector, with 62 per cent of Accords sold in Britian going to fleet users. Corporate sales of the Accord are up five per cent year-on-year. With a couple of weeks left of 2007 there have already been almost 7,800 Accords sold in the UK this year.
'We have a growing customer base and the popularity of Accord has helped to drive this,' said Harvey Hughes, manager - corporate operations, Honda (UK). 'The new Sport GT we launched in September embodies all that the Accord stands for - high spec and great value for money.'
Words: Malcolm Robertshaw