Honda Motor sets Accord prices for U.S. market

(Reuters) - The Accord, the most essential model to the North American success of Honda Motor Co <7267.T>, will have a base price of $22,470 when it goes on sale next week in U.S. showrooms, the company said on Monday.

The base price of the 2013 Accord model is slightly less than the best-selling mid-size sedan, the Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> Camry, and is an increase of less than $300 from the current Accord model.

Honda is counting on the 2013 Accord when it goes on sale September 19 to close the gap with Camry in the U.S. market's largest and most competitive segment. The Camry leads with an 11.1 percent share and Accord is second at 8.7 percent.

The Japanese carmaker has sold almost 220,000 Accords through August in the U.S. market, up 35 percent from last year, but far off the pace of 1998 through 2001 when Accord's U.S. sales annually topped 400,000.

The base price for top-selling mid-size cars in the United States by sales volume through August are the 2012 Camry at $22,850, the 2013 Accord, the 2013 Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> Altima at $22,280, the Ford Motor Co 2013 Fusion at $22,495, the General Motors Co 2013 Chevrolet Malibu at $23,150, and the Hyundai Motor Co <005380.KS> 2013 Sonata at $21,670.

Ford, like Honda and its Accord, has yet to begin sales of its 2013 mid-size Fusion.

Prices include destination charges but not dealer or manufacturer discounts.

An Accord LX with more standard equipment than the base sedan will be priced at $34,220.

Following the Accord sedan, Honda will roll out a coupe version in October and a plug-in hybrid version early next year. A conventional hybrid model will go on sale in the summer of 2013.

The base coupe version will be sold at $24,140, including destination charges, Honda said.

(Reporting By Bernie Woodall; Editing By Ryan Woo)