Beijing 2014: Honda Spirior Concept

At yesterday's 2014 Beijing International Auto Show, Honda unveiled concept model for an all-new Spirior, which will go on sale in China later this year.

In the past, the Chinese market Spirior has always referred to a European market Accord model.

Globally, the Honda Accord's family tree is split along two lines: a global model Accord which is sold in Asia and North America, and a smaller European model Accord. Actually, there are three lines if you consider derivative models, like the Crosstour, but let's keep things simple.

Only a few countries in the world sell both Accord models concurrently, one of which is Australia (but not for very much longer), while the other is China.

In China, Honda has two local joint ventures - Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Honda. Guangzhou Honda sells the global model Accord while Dongfeng Honda sells the European model Accord as the Spirior.

The Spirior nameplate was also used in Japan at one time, also on a European market Accord (imported into Japan from the UK). But the model has since been discontinued in Japan.

Because the concept shown here wears the Spirior nameplate, many assumed that the model is a preview of the next generation European market Accord, which is also sold as the Acura TSX in USA.

In any case, the model has little relevance to our market, which will continue to sell the global Accord.