We’ve been waiting for Honda to come up with an Accord-based crossover since the moment Toyota pulled the wraps off its Camry-based Venza concept at the North American International Auto Show last year.

It’s no surprise that Honda would build a vehicle to go head-to-head with the Venza (pictured above) and apparently the company isn’t willing to let Toyota build up a dominating market presence, as the CrossTour (as it is reported to be called) will hit dealerships as early as October 26th. Some rumors, however, have the launch date set for early 2010. 

As expected the CrossTour will be based on the Accord platform, and will be just 2.5-inches taller that the popular sedan. It will also be 7-inches longer than the Venza, opening up the possibility that it could have a third row. Considering the Venza doesn’t however, the CrossTour will most likely stick to just to rows of seats.

The added space will allow the rear of the CrossTour to function more like a truck bed. And Honda will offer a hard plastic bed liner as an option.

Unlike the Venza the CrossTour will not be offered with a four-cylinder powerplant – just the V6. There will aso be no manual option.

Most likely the reason for the lack of a four-cylinder is due to Honda pushing up the car’s launch date. As the curb weight is certain to be a few hundred pounds over that of the Accord, the Accord’s inline-four would most likely not be up to the task. After all, the four-cylinder in the Venza is a larger and more powerful motor than in the Camry. That being said, there’s a possibility that a four-cylinder will be made available in the future. 

Both a front wheel drive an all-wheel drive model will be offered as well as options like a power liftgate.

[Source: Temple of Vtec]

Interesting times indeed. As the economy continues to lumber on, this economic shakeup is certainly changing things in the automotive industry. While in a bustling economy it may take decades for shifts to happen in an industry, it can take just a month in a recession. And so with every passing month the sales figures for the world’s automakers in the U.S. give us a glimpse at how things are changing.

The two biggest stories might just be that in the month of April Ford outsold Toyota, while Korean automaker Hyundai surpassed Nissan/Infiniti for total sales – moving just outside the top-five and in to 6th place.

Toyota managed to sell 126,540 units in the U.S. in the month of April, suffering a decline of 41.9 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Meanwhile U.S. automaker General Motors suffered only a 33.2 percent decline in sales. GM still holds the top sales position in the U.S. for the month if April, but Toyota was surpassed by Ford, which managed 133,979 units, a decline of 33 percent over the previous April.

As for Hyundai, it posted sales of 59,558 vehicles in April, topping Nissan/Infiniti at just 47,190 units. This news pushes Hyundai into sixth place for U.S. sales. The position-swap is due mostly to the fact that Hyundai managed to sustain minor losses , while Nissan struggled. Nissan’s decline from the month of April 2008 was 37.8 percent, while Hyundai only posted a loss of 14.1 percent.

It is important to point out, however, that Hyundai’s sales also include all Kia vehicles.

Other interesting stories found deep in April’s sales numbers include Chrysler’s decline of 48.1 percent, as well as news that the Honda Accord out-sold Ford’s F-Series pickups to claim the title of the best selling vehicle in the U.S.

For the second straight month, no automaker in the U.S. posted a sales increase, although on the positive side the overall sales of vehicles dropped just 34.4 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, which is the smallest decline since October.

May’s numbers are sure to be more interesting as Chrysler is certain to drop significantly, potentially moving several automakers up a position.

[Source: Automotive News]