Honda has just taken the wraps off the next-generation HR-V (known as the Vezel in Japan). If you like it, well, you’d better buy a plane ticket, because it isn’t coming to the United States. Instead, Honda will develop a separate version of the HR-V that Honda says will be “designed to meet the distinct needs of U.S. customers, and will differ from the Honda Vezel/HR-V that will be introduced in other regions.”
Honda recently discontinued the Fit in the U.S. as they replaced the subcompact we know and love with a new fourth-generation model that won’t be sold here. The HR-V and the Fit share the same platform, and assuming the new Vezel will go the same way, it’s not a big surprise to learn that the new Fit-based HR-V won’t be offered in the U.S.
That said, considering Honda’s volume, and the growth of the small-SUV segment, in the U.S., it makes sense to create an HR-V tailored to American buyers. HR-V sales were up sharply for 2019, and finished out 2020 only slightly behind their 2018 figure.
So what’s the plan for an American HR-V? The current version of the HR-V will continue on through the 2021 model year, with the new U.S.-specific version coming as a 2022 model. That means we should see it (possibly as a thinly-veiled “prototype”) some time in the next few months.
The HR-V wouldn’t be the first U.S.-exclusive Honda model. Honda began making separate versions of the Accord for North America and Europe/Japan in the early 2000s (with the European Accord sold here as the Acura TSX). Honda’s biggest SUVs, the Pilot and Passport, are currently exclusive to the North American market.
The post America to Get Its Own Honda HR-V for 2022 appeared first on MotorTrend.
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