Scheduled to be launched during festive season, the new Honda SUV will rival the likes of Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, MG Astor, Maruti Grand Vitara and the Toyota Hyryder.
Japanese car manufacturer Honda has recently discontinued the WR-V, Jazz hatchback and diesel versions of the Amaze and the City sedan from our market. The company is only selling the Amaze petrol and the City sedan with petrol & strong hybrid powertrains. In order to improve sales, Honda will launch a new mid-sized SUV in the country during festive season, before Diwali. It is scheduled to make global debut in June 2023.
It is reportedly to be called the new Honda Elevate, as the name has already been registered in our market. The new SUV has been spotted testing multiple times on the Indian roads. Going by the spy images, it is visible that the overall styling of the new Honda SUV will be inspired from the CR-V and the HR-V on sale in select international markets. The new SUV be positioned between the WR-V and the HR-V in the brand’s global SUV line-up.
The new Honda SUV will be designed and developed on the fifth gen City platform. This suggest that the SUV will be compatible with petrol as well as hybrid powertrains. It will share the tried & tested 1.5-litre 4-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine from the City sedan. This engine is capable of producing 121bhp and 145Nm of torque. Both manual and CVT automatic gearbox options will be on offer.
Similar to the City hybrid, the new Honda SUV will also receive a 1.5-litre Atkison cycle engine with a strong hybrid tech, called the e:HEV. This powertrain option will come with two electric motors. In the hybrid set-up, the petrol engine produces 98bhp and with electric assistance it makes 109bhp. Its combined torque output stands at 253Nm.
If rumours are to be believed, the SUV could also receive a 1.0-litre 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that powers the City RS in Thailand. This engine is capable of producing 120bhp at 5500rpm and a peak torque of 173Nm at 2000-4500rpm. This powertrain will be paired to a 7-speed continuously variable transmission or CVT.
The new SUV will also receive ADAS tech with features like collision mitigation braking system, road departure mitigation system, lane keeping assist system, adaptive cruise control and auto high-beam. The SUV will also get a 360 degree camera, Honda’s Lane Watch system to detect blind spots, six airbags, ABS with EBD, ESC, VSM, hill launch assist and an electronic parking brake. The big change will come in the form of interior, as it will have an all-new & bigger touchscreen infotainment screen and a digital driver display.
