- Honda reportedly plans a lifted Accord hatch for Outback shoppers.
- The automaker could build the hybrid in Ohio starting mid-2029.
- A Crosstour return seems better timed in today’s crossover-focused market.
Remember the Accord Crosstour? Honda apparently does, even if you don’t, because 11 years after that peculiar sedan, hatchback, crossover mashup disappeared from America, the company is reportedly preparing another Accord with a big rear hatch and SUV aspirations.
Honda is considering a model internally referred to as the Accord SUV, which could enter production around mid 2029 at the company’s Marysville, Ohio plant, Automotive News’ sources say. It would arrive alongside a redesigned Accord sedan, with both using Honda’s next-generation hybrid powertrain.
Related: The Accord Turns 50 And Honda Hints It’s Getting Sportier For 51
Despite the SUV label, we’re not expecting another conventional SUV to squeeze between the CR-V, Passport and Pilot. Instead, the plan reportedly calls for a raised Accord hatchback with larger wheels and tires, increased ground clearance and a more useful cargo area, while retaining the sedan’s long-wheelbase platform.
Smells Like A Subaru
If you’re thinking that sounds suspiciously like a Honda-flavored Subaru Outback, it’s purely intentional. Dealers reportedly see Subaru as the obvious target. Edmunds analyst Ivan Drury told the publication that the Outback was consistently among the 10 most popular vehicles bought by customers leaving Honda between 2020 and 2025. More importantly, Honda doesn’t currently offer anything that directly matches it.
Building the new model from existing Accord bones could also keep development costs under control while giving buyers something roomier and taller without forcing them into a conventional SUV. One Honda dealer described the potential customer as someone “ready to move on from a sedan but not quite ready to make the full plunge into an SUV.”
The end-of-decade timing suggested by Automotive News fits Honda’s hybrid push. The company plans 15 hybrid models globally by 2030, while the Accord itself is expected to become hybrid-only by 2031.
Ahead Of Its Time, Or Just Too Ugly?
Honda has been here before, of course. The Accord Crosstour (later rebranded simply as Crosstour) arrived for 2010 with a raised driving position and hatchback practicality. But US sales peaked at only 28,851 units during its first year, and Honda killed the model at the end of 2015, just as crossover fever went crazy, so maybe the time is right for another shot.
More: Honda’s Accord Is Getting A Futuristic Makeover, And Maybe The Prelude’s Fake Shifter
The Crosstour was often criticized for its awkward design, and we can be sure Honda will bear that in mind when cooking up its replacement. It will potentially draw design cues from the recent Honda Hybrid Sedan Prototype concept it showed in May, and maybe elements of the axed Model 0 Saloon electric sedan and 0 SUV we should have been getting this year. But whatever it looks like, it’s going to struggle to look uglier than an Outback in Wilderness trim.
