IT'S common for manufacturers to up-spec a model in its run-out year, but in Honda's case the entire Accord range has been revitalised in a bid to attract more fleet sales.

The eight-car range has grown in the 1998 model-year to 15 versions, with Executive, Sport and Executive Sport guises introduced on both 1.8- and 2.0-litre engine sizes. The move has enabled Honda to broaden the Accord's appeal to a wider customer base, and with much-improved specification that includes air conditioning and alloy wheels on all derivatives, it makes for a tempting package despite the model's age.

Honda sold 55,612 cars in the UK in 1997 - a 2.6% share of the market. The Accord accounted for 12,837 registrations, of which 9,649, or exactly three quarters, went to the fleet sector.

In the build-up to the introduction of a new Accord later this year, expectations are greater, Honda adopting a 'sold order' policy from April 1 in anticipation of continuing demand.

Said Honda's national corporate sales manager, Nicholas Philips: 'Demand for Accord has been higher than we anticipated which has forced us to instigate the sold order policy from April. We are fully confident that we will sell out of the Accord before the new model's introduction.'

Production of the Accord saloon stops at Swindon in July, giving dealers enough stock to run through until the end of August, when build starts on the new model prior to its release on October 1.