Accord Helps Honda Rebound from Civic Jeers

Honda Motor Co., hit by Consumer Reports' stinging review for its Civic small car last year, got high marks for the revamped 2013 Accord that the magazine said ranks among the market's best mid-sized cars.

Among sedans with four cylinder engines, the new Accord that went on sale in September tops Hyundai Motor Co.'s Sonata and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Camry, the magazine said in a statement today.

The four-cylinder and V-6-poweded Accords both earned the recommended status that eluded the 2012 Civic.

"Honda missed the mark with other redesigned models in recent years, but it nailed this one," Jake Fisher, director of Consumer Reports Auto Test Center, said in the statement.

The mix of interior room, high fuel economy, ride and handling, features and price underpin Accord's appeal, the magazine said.

The upbeat assessment of Honda's top-selling vehicle by the magazine that calls itself the world's largest independent product-testing organization coincides with a rebound for the carmaker in its biggest market.

Along with the unfavorable Civic review, 2011's natural disasters in Asia slowed Honda production for months and led to a 6.8 percent U.S. sales decline last year. Through November, the Tokyo-based company's sales rebounded 24 percent.

Honda in November released its modified 2013 Civic, with a restyled interior, new front hood and grille, new rear taillights, quieter cabin, and strengthened front-end to boost crash safety to address the 2012 car's shortcomings.

The new version of the best-selling U.S. small car is a "major improvement," Fisher said in an interview at the Los Angeles auto show last month, without elaborating prior to the magazine's review.