The 2025 Honda Accord is a mainstay here in North America. Debuting in Canada in 1976 — three years after the Civic — the Accord’s Canadian roots run deep. A decade after its introduction here, the Accord was the first car Honda manufactured in its then-new plant in Alliston, Ontario. Things look a little different today; the Accord is built in the U.S., but Honda continues to manufacture popular vehicles like the Civic and CR-V here in Canada. In fact, almost 70 per cent of Hondas sold in Canada are made right here.

Although the Accord has seen a downtrend in sales, that has more to do with the general decline of midsize sedans than it does the product itself. Most manufacturers no longer offer a midsize sedan at all, eschewing the once-popular body style in favour of SUVs and crossovers. The Accord is no longer the default car that every household has parked in the driveway at some point or another, but Honda still has the formula down pat, regardless of the shifting winds of the automotive world.

A familiar face

The new Accord takes me back to 1990, when Honda revealed the fourth-generation model to the world. The look of this latest, 11th-generation model borrows from the smaller Civic, which seems to also take influence from the subtly attractive fourth-gen Accord. Mind you, I never owned one, but I feverishly wanted an EX-R. I didn’t realize my Accord ownership dreams until I picked up a manual ’03 coupe with the V6. Underrated car, but that’s a story for another day.

The newest version takes the simplicity of old and modernizes it with clean, horizontal headlights, a classic grille, and even tail lights that hearken back to the ’90s if I squint hard enough. The Accord won’t win any design awards, but it’s not trying to. The gimmick-free exterior is refreshing, easy on the eyes, and looks quietly handsome, especially in our tester’s Touring trim and its attractive two-tone 19-inch wheels. Of course, it has grown in size, but what hasn’t? The 2025 Accord spans over 16 feet in overall length and is wider than its predecessors as well. It would’ve been considered a full-size sedan 35 years ago, but alas, times have changed.

A familiar place

The trade-off to the larger exterior dimensions is generous interior space front and rear. You can genuinely fit five people comfortably, and the 472-litre trunk can swallow up all their things and then some. Mind you, this is slightly less than what its arch-nemesis Toyota Camry offers, but is still ample.

Quality remains solid, with no creaks or rattles to speak of. Major touchpoints feel good, especially the knurled knobs of the volume and climate controls. Honda’s single-grille air vent treatment looks as good here as it does in pretty much everything else in the lineup, coming off more premium than you’d expect in a car of this class. The Accord isn’t perfect; Honda uses some cheap-feeling plastics here and there, but they’re mostly in places you don’t interact much with anyway. The black leather looks and feels good, although the seats are a bit flat both front and rear. The black dash and minimal ambient lighting makes the cabin feel drab when the sun sets. Overall, though, it gives you that familiar Honda feeling.

A new era

And that era is electrified, at least partially. Gone is the beloved V6 in favour of a four-cylinder hybrid setup shared with the Civic and CR-V hybrids. It mates a 2.0 litre four-cylinder gas engine to a small electric motor, powering the front wheels. The gas engine primarily functions as a generator to power the electric motor and charge the battery pack, but it can power the wheels directly in circumstances where more power is needed. The Accord can also run on electric power alone, but that’s limited to taking off from a stoplight or cruising on the highway, although the gas end is quick to jump in.

When it does, you can barely tell. It’s such an incredibly smooth transition between gas and electric that sometimes, the only way you know the gas engine is on is by the lack of the little EV light oin the instrument cluster. It really is that quiet, smooth, and seamless. Hybrids are getting better across the industry, but Honda has already perfected the Accord.

Honestly, I don’t miss the V6 as much as I thought. The electrified power is smooth and more than adequate in most scenarios, especially from a standstill. As much of a surprisingly good performer as the old V6 was, this hybrid powertrain feels more in-line with what Accord buyers would actually want — especially when the trip computer says you’re averaging under 6 L/100 kilometres. Remember, this isn’t a compact sedan or hatch, but rather a 3,500-pound family sedan before stuffing it with passengers and cargo. Averaging 5.8 L/100 kilometres in the real world, which is only half a litre off the official ratings, is impressive.

That Honda magic

It’s still all there, even in hybrid form. The Accord’s steering feels tight and maybe even athletic, as does the suspension. It’s an enjoyable vehicle to pilot, with more grip than you’d expect without compromising on ride quality. It doesn’t match the Civic hybrid’s surprising agility, but it behaves like a slightly older, slightly heavier version of it. In other words, exactly what you’d expect and want out of an Accord.

At $45,800 fully decked-out, there’s a lot of value in the latest Accord. The Touring trim gives you everything you could possibly need in a car today, including Honda’s active safety and driver assists, heated and cooled seats, along with digital screens for the dash and infotainment, which uses a Google-based UI and offers both wireless CarPlay and Android Auto.

The 2025 Honda Accord is one of very few currently keeping the midsize sedan alive. Despite dwindling sales, Honda hasn’t mailed-it-in with the latest effort. The newest Accord carries the midsize sedan torch proudly, and hopefully more people realize a crossover isn’t always the answer.