15 for 50 doesn’t exactly have the same ring to it as 30 for 30, but it’s still a big deal for Honda. The company is celebrating 50 years of the Accord this year, and Honda’s Camry-fighter has also hit a huge milestone. The 15 millionth Accord sold in America has left the dealership, followed immediately by car 15,000,001, which went to the same family.
Accord Has Outsold, Outlived Nearly Every Other Car
15 Millionth Honda AccordHonda
50 years is a long time for any brand’s nameplate to stick around. If you counted up all the model names that had stuck around continuously for that long, you probably wouldn’t need to start using your toes. That puts the Accord in rare company, even rarer than its main competitor at Toyota, which hasn’t even hit the 45-year mark yet.
Base Trim Engine
1.5L Inline-4 Turbo
Base Trim Transmission
CVT
Base Trim Drivetrain
Front-Wheel Drive
Base Trim Horsepower
192 HP @6000 RPM
Base Trim Torque
192 lb.-ft. @ 1700 RPM
Base Trim Fuel Economy (city/highway/combined)
29/37/32 MPG
Infotainment & Features
9 /10
The original Accords launched in 1976, and in 1982 Honda started building them in the US. Since then, it has built more than 13 million of the 15 million sold in the US at that plant in Ohio that still churns them out today.
Honda’s 15 millionth car was sold to Andrea (last name withheld), an insurance agent in Southern California who is part of a very Honda family. Her new Accord Sport-L replaced a 2017 Accord that was passed down from her father. Dad’s first car purchase was yet another Accord, that one back in 1997.
Related
The Highest Mileage Honda In The World
The brand has a long-standing reputation for reliability, but which one of its cars holds the record for highest mileage?
Because there’s nothing like a family connection to tug on your heartstrings, Andrea’s sister Alondra took home the next car, number 15,000,001. That one was also a Sport-L Hybrid, but while Andrea picked white for her car, Alondra took the official color of the younger sibling. Silver.
11 Generations Of Cars, Two Generations Of Family
11 Generations Of AccordHonda
“We’re a Honda family. Our parents have been driving Hondas for as long as I can remember, and now my sister and I do, too,” said Andrea. “We’re absolutely thrilled with our new Accords. The Accord has always been a car we know and trust, so learning that our purchases became part of Honda history makes this moment even more memorable.”
Model year 2026 is the first year for the refresh of the 11th-generation of the Accord. Honda added a larger touch screen and a wireless phone charger, which are not exactly milestone-worthy additions.
When the Accord launched in 1976, the best-selling car in the US was the Oldsmobile Cutlass, which moved 495,976 units. 50 years later, the best-selling vehicle is the Ford F-Series, which moved 828,832 units, and the Oldsmobile brand has been gone for almost half the Accord’s life.
That first Accord used a 1.6-liter four-cylinder with Honda’s revolutionary CVCC system. It made 68 horsepower and 85 pound-feet of torque, and buyers could pick a five-speed manual or a two-speed semi-automatic. It was a three-door hatch that year, and the first sedan didn’t show up until 1979 (along with a real automatic transmission and power steering).
Related
There Will Be Only 8 American-Made Sedans Left In 2025
The once-mighty American four-door car is dying a slow death. Of the vast choice we had just a decade ago, only five remain for 2025.
In 1972, the Accord got an EPA-estimated 31 mpg city, 44 mpg highway. The tests were different back then, so it’s likely closer to 29/40 by today’s measures. The modern car delivers 192 hp from its 1.5 turbo-four or 204 from the 2.0-liter hybrid system. The gas model gets 28/36 while the hybrid does 46/41.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
2026 Honda Accord SE front 3/4 high angle in black while drivingHonda
A well-known brand is like gold for automakers, and the Accord’s sales results and the customers of the milestone cars proves it. The Accord is the best-selling car nameplate in the US over the last 50 years, and it is capturing owners who have picked it since their own first cars and then their kids as they grow up and buy their own cars. It’s helped that the Accord has been a class-leading car for its long life, too.
