IN the highly competitive sector of the car market which is dominated by senior management customers there is still a perception that being behind the the wheel of the right German badges says you have made it in life. But things are changing.

Japanese brands, through no fault of their own, have suffered from this image frenzy and some models of the past have failed to win favour.

Honda has taken all of this on board and reloaded its well-known Accord saloon with all the right touches that turn heads and influence people.

For instance, muscular wheel arches, sharp lines and a low body tick all the boxes when it comes to the visual factor, improved chassis dynamics drive away the boredom menace and a quality of interior worthy of a much more expensive car gives the Accord a very good hand to play in the toughest game in the motor industry.

And an ace card is the selection of cleaner petrol and diesel engines which give the latest Accord a lot more power to its elbow.

You never hear much about the Accord because it is one of those cars that does not stir controversy, rarely goes wrong and just does what is asked of it.

I drove a diesel option, the 2.2 i-DTEC ES GT manual complete with satellite navigation and walked away from it somewhat emotional, wishing that if Britain's own car industry had survived it would have been capable of making something like this.

Indeed, we nearly achieved it. Rover's tie up with Honda produced some very good cars but it all came to nothing.

But stepping back into the real world and banishing all mental images of a Rover badge on this car I realised that it is probably the best Japanese answer yet to the likes of Audi and VW.

Honda has openly stated that key customers will be conquests from the corporate market, the main targets being people who drive Volkswagen Passats, Audi A4s and Ford Mondeos. So anything that aims to pin down such conquests has to be good.

This car cost £26,340 and was as smooth an operator as I have driven. It has to be to lure people away from cars like the Passat which is one of the best looking cars of its type.

The Accord plans to pull it off with its classy interior, fine engines and the sort of suave road stance we are not really used to seeing from Japan.

Things are hotting up fast in this corner of the market and if the management-mobile does not have a good sat nav then it is soon relegated to the also-rans. This model was well-equipped in this area and the system was easy to use.

One factor that is vital in the biz-car area is residual values and the last Accord proved itself spectacularly.

The outgoing 2.2 i-DTEC ES-GT manual is expected to retain 32 per cent of its value after three years/60,000 miles which cannot be sniffed at.

On the road the 2.2 i-DTEC smoothed everything out into a rapid and at times exhilarating drive.

It proved without doubt that old perceptions of management car choices should now be categorically consigned to the history books.