Honda has to make Accord slightly upscale than Altima design wise because there is no Maxima class vehicle in Honda.

It is not better than TSX. TSX small steering wheel and buttons are blended into dash on reasonable size center stack. so it is not overhelming but gives elegance. not over done.

Sonata sells will always be capped. New Sonata will not make difference. It is Honda and Nissan time to implement new engines and transmission.

Hyundai/Kia has no chance of implementing some thing new. At best copy some tech from Germans. where is 8speed transmission from Koreans in 4 cylinder cars?. Honda and Nissan are going to implement CVT in 4 cylinder.

Honda designers just got their heads out of their collective arses and did a better job than the designers at Nissan and Toyota this time around.

It looks better than the dash/centerstack in the TSX.

The centerstack on the TSX looks too much like one of those cheap boom boxes w/ all those buttons and being all black.

Again, it's capped due to capacity reasons.

Hyundai is wringing out every last efficiency from their Alabama plant, adding a full 3rd shift and they will sell every Sonata they make.

Plus, sales of the Sonata + Optima should continue to be near the top.

Accord Always had more upscale interior design than Altima/Camry.

Only new Altima went bit higher on upper trim models.Honda always do better job with interiors as they have no intention of making cars for rental fleets.

You need to check your eyesight and discering image abilities.

Hmmm - didn't stop Honda from making the Civic's dash being universally derided by the auto press.

Oh, yeah, I'm the one who needs to... lol

what do you understand about current civic. it will outlast all its competition interms of long life reliability.

Auto press is wrong about Civic. Civic is universal success.

There is big difference in man machine interface design of TSX and Accord not to mention excecution. have you driven the MDX?. there is some thing to learn by driving that and compare it to TSX.

I guess they are also wrong about Honda having to use incentives to push sales of the 'new' Civic and about the powers that be at Honda realizing that they made a mistake cheapening the Civic and ordering a revised Civic poste haste.

Add to that, the Civic having a lower ATP than the Elantra.

In contrast, Honda did the new CR-V right, hence no incentives on a new model (funny how that works).

I'm just talking about the design/looks of the dash.

As for interface, we won't know until the new Accord launches, and considering that it will be the newer than the TSX, it should have the more up to date system.

Honda is revealing the look of the next Accord, a sleeker, more-fuel-efficient sedan that faces tough rivals.

At least Honda has great timing: The current Accord has re-established itself as a best seller after a difficult year in which supplies were interrupted by Japan's tsunami. Last month, Accord was second only to Toyota's Camry as America's best-selling car, and it was the fourth-best-selling vehicle of any kind.

Honda says the new look for 2013 is more sculpted. "It doesn't scream and shout, but it's sophisticated and refined," says Vicki Poponi, an assistant vice president.

The new Accord is 3 inches shorter than the one it replaces but retains about the same interior size. The trunk is a cubic-foot larger. Honda engineers have an "obsession with getting the most interior (space)," she says.

When it goes on sale this fall, the ninth generation of Accord will compete in the big but ever-tougher midsize-car market, where automakers are placing huge bets. New products have poured into the segment. Besides the just year-old redone Camry and Volkswagen Passat and 2-year-old Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima, redone 2013 models newly on sale or soon to be include Chevrolet Malibu, Nissan Altima and Ford Fusion.

"This is going to be a real battleground," says George Peterson, president of AutoPacific. "It's going to take an Accord to bring back the same level of excellence, high value and quality (Honda) has had in the past."

Honda says it's going to stay ahead of the competition by giving the new Accord more upscale touches and new technology:

It will get LED headlights, taillights and running lights, a feature typically found in luxury cars. The four-cylinder base engine will be paired with a more gas-efficient continuously variable transmission, or CVT, rather than a conventional automatic transmission. The new transmission is "not rubber-bandy" feeling, a reputation of many CVTs, Poponi asserts. Unlike many others, Accord still will offer a V-6, too.

Although Honda didn't reveal the expected fuel-economy figures — or the price — the new Accord is designed for extra-low wind drag, with flush-mounted window glass and wipers and a smoother underbody.

Peterson says Honda doesn't need to be the segment leader to win customers when it comes to fuel economy, but it will have to post in the high-30-miles-per-gallon range in highway driving.