The answer is no. The 2018 Honda Accord did not offer a manual transmission in the United States or Canada. It was available with a 1.5-liter turbo engine paired to a CVT, or a 2.0-liter turbo engine paired to a 10-speed automatic; the Hybrid used an electric-driven CVT rather than a traditional manual.
Overview of the 2018 Accord
The 2018 model year marked a major redesign for the Accord, introducing sharper styling, updated safety tech, and a choice of turbocharged engines. Honda aimed to balance performance and efficiency while maintaining the Accord’s reputation as a practical, family-friendly sedan. In North America, this package did not include any manual transmission option.
Transmission options in the 2018 Accord
The following outlines how power was delivered to the wheels across the main US/Canada configurations. Note that none of these configurations used a manual gearbox.
- 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-4 with a continuously variable transmission (CVT).
- 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 with a 10-speed automatic transmission.
- Hybrid variant using a 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle engine paired with electric motors and Honda’s e-CVT.
In short: no manual option existed for the 2018 Accord in North America. If a manual is essential, buyers might turn to other Honda models or to earlier-generation Accords that offered a manual, but not the 2018 lineup.
Why Honda skipped the manual for 2018
Industry and consumer trends around the time pointed toward automatic transmissions as the default for mid-size sedans, driven by broader consumer demand for smoother acceleration, noise reduction, and advanced driver-assistance tech that integrates more readily with automatics. Honda also cited efficiency and performance improvements with the available CVTs and automatics as reasons to steer away from a manual option on the ninth-generation Accord.
Summary
The 2018 Honda Accord did not offer a manual transmission in its North American market. Buyers could choose a 1.5T with CVT, a 2.0T with a 10-speed auto, or a hybrid with an e-CVT. This aligned the model with prevailing market preferences for automatics in the midsize sedan segment.