Arrogance And Accords The Inside Story Of The Honda Scandal (2024)

Here’s where the arrogance got interesting: Honda made the Accord too good .

Honda had accidentally created a new lifestyle category: . The car for the startup founder who didn’t want a German lease. The car for the lawyer who drove a Civic in college. The car for anyone who understood that arrogance doesn’t have to be loud. Part Five: The Modern Era—Accords in Hip-Hop, Streaming, and Memes Fast-forward to the 2020s. The Accord is now in its 11th generation. It’s a hybrid-only sedan in a world that hates sedans. And yet, it remains a lifestyle touchstone.

Inside the company, the shift was seismic. Younger engineers admitted, quietly, that the tuner scene had saved Honda’s reputation during the “soft years” of the mid-2000s. Designers began incorporating elements of the old double-wishbone cars into new models. The Civic Type R returned. And while the Accord remained a sedan, Honda introduced a “sport” trim with manual transmission (briefly) and stiffer suspension. Arrogance And Accords The Inside Story Of The Honda Scandal

Why? Because the Accord was relatable. You couldn’t afford a Supra. You couldn’t insure an RX-7. But you could buy a used Accord for $2,000, put $1,500 of parts into it, and have a car that looked like it belonged in a music video.

Why? Because of .

But the true entertainment MVP was, again, the Accord.

It was the first time the company publicly acknowledged what enthusiasts had known for 30 years: the Accord wasn’t just a car. It was a lifestyle. Here’s where the arrogance got interesting: Honda made

Arrogance and accords. They sound like opposites. But inside the story of Honda, they’re the same thing: a belief that good engineering, left alone, creates its own culture.