14 November 2002: The new 7th-generation Honda Accord has just won the Japanese Car of the Year 2003 award. It will be available in Ireland in the spring of next year.

This is the third time the Accord has won this award, which went to the 3rd-generation model in 1985, and to the 5th-generation model in 1993.

This is the third year in a row that Honda has won the Japan Car of the Year Award, having won it for the Civic, Civic Ferio, and Stream in 2000 and the Fit (Jazz in Europe) in 2001. The Mazda 6 came third, and BMW's MINI fourth, followed by the Mercedes Benz E-Class.