Honda, which released the first photos of the new design on Wednesday but offered few additional details, said the 2013 model of the Accord will provide consumers more room inside while at the same time shortening the exterior.

Honda did not disclose pricing for the new Accord, but the current model has a starting price of $22,270, including delivery charges.

Analysts have said the new Accord needs to be a home run for Honda, whose 2012 Civic small car was panned by some critics. The success of the new Accord, which will include a new generation of engines and transmissions to boost fuel efficiency, is also critical for Honda's global sales ambitions.

Honda has set a global sales target of 4.3 million vehicles in the financial year to March 2013, up 38.4 percent from the previous year, with North America to account for about 40 percent of the total.

The Accord, which was launched in 1976, is Honda's best-selling vehicle and previous generations made the Japanese automaker's reputation for easy-to-drive, smartly engineered cars with good fuel mileage. But competition has heated up in that segments, especially from a resurgent U.S. industry and emerging South Korean rivals.

Unlike the Civic, the ninth-generation Accord will be equipped with Honda's newest engines and transmissions -- technologies the company hopes will make its cars the most fuel-efficient in their class by 2015. It will be the first time in a decade Honda has overhauled the Accord's engine.

Through July this year, Honda has sold 183,817 Accords in the U.S. market, an increase of almost 28 percent from the prior year. Civic sales were 187,586, up 33 percent, in the same period.

Honda, which previously acknowledged it lost its way on design, revamped its development process to avoid more cars like the 2012 Civic, which Consumer Reports last summer savaged for its low-quality interior and choppy ride, dropping it from the magazine's recommended list for the first time ever and ranking it near the bottom among small cars.

Honda called the new Accord's interior "upscale" and said it was more luxurious than current models, but did not provide details of the car's features. The redesign will include increased passenger and cargo space, while the overall exterior lengths are "noticeably" shortened. The automaker described the new version of the car as the "most sculpted Accord ever."

In January, John Mendel, Honda's U.S. sales chief, said the next Accord would "raise the bar again," promising the car would lead in fuel economy and safety. The company said at the time that the 2013 Accord lineup also would include a plug-in hybrid electric system, as well as such safety features as lane departure and forward collision warning technologies.

(Reporting By Ben Klayman in Detroit;editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)