Production of the all-new 2003 Honda Accord began today at the Marysville Auto Plant.
In a rolling model change, the first '03 Accord, a Metallic Silver sedan, was driven off the production line at 12:17p.m. Eastern time on the heels of its popular predecessor model.
The completely redesigned Accord sedan goes on sale Sept. 9, followed by the new sporty coupe Sept.18.
"The Accord is the flagship product in our model lineup," Tom Shoupe, plant manager of the Marysville Auto Plant, told associates today. "You have the strength, experience and commitment to provide customers with world-class quality and reliability."
The 7th generation Accord boasts dynamic new styling in both the sedan and coupe models to capture the attention of younger consumers, while providing the performance and quality that Accord customers expect.
The Accord was the best-selling car in America in 2001. Exterior styling for the sedan and coupe is more distinctive, and the two models will share only their headlights for '03. A host of additional standard equipment has been added on all models, including anti-lock brakes, tilt and telescopic steering and 5-speed automatic transmissions.
The Accord has been manufactured for nearly 20 years at the Marysville Auto Plant. In addition to the Accord, the Acura TL sedan and Acura CL coupe are produced at the Marysville Auto Plant. The Marysville plant assembled 456,348 cars last year, more than any other plant in North America.
The V-6 and four-cylinder engines for the Accord are produced at Honda's engine plant in Anna, Ohio. The Anna Engine Plant produces more than one million engines per year for Honda auto plants throughout North America.
Honda of America also operates the Marysville Motorcycle Plant, which manufactures Honda's largest motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. In addition the East Liberty Auto Plant produces the Honda Civic and this fall begins production of the Honda Element. All of these products are manufactured from domestic and internationally sourced parts.