Honda HR-V News

Honda has confirmed it will electrify its HR-V small SUV this year that will take the fight directly to the new-gen Nissan Qashqai, Toyota C-HR Hybrid and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV.Just a teaser for now, nothing has been confirmed for the new HR-V sav

With 454,701 SUV sales in 2020 making up nearly half of all overall Australian new-car volume, it's no surprise to see high-riders parked on every street, at all the schools and the supermarket stable.For every humble passenger car sold in Australia last

Honda is busy putting the finishing touches on an all-new, completely redesigned HR-V small SUV due to break cover internationally sometime next year, with Australian sales set to follow soon after or in early 2022, just in time to take on the highly anticipated Toyota Corolla Cross.

Honda Australia has increased the pricing of three of the recently updated HR-V small SUV’s four variants

Honda Australia has recalled 22,366 examples of the Jazz, City, Civic, Accord, HR-V, CR-V and NSX over an issue with their fuel pumps

Car sales are down in 2020.

The HR-V receives yet another update, this time bringing essential connectivity tech.

At first glance Honda Australia's decision to scale back its operations and adopt a new 'agency-style' sales model looks like a backwards step.

Honda Australia will cut dealers from its network and will move to a fixed-priced model in a bid to stay ahead of a downward trending market.With 106 outlets currently selling and servicing Honda cars around Australia, the Japanese brand will whittle its footprint down to a yet-to-be-determined number by July 1, 2021.Honda Australia will also adopt a new ‘agency’ sales model from that point onward, with all stock owned by the brand instead of the dealers.Honda New Zealand adopted the same business model in 2016, with Toyota New Zealand following suit in 2018.As a result, all Honda vehicles will carry a fixed, non-negotiable price and dealers, now known as agents, will receive a fee from Honda to facilitate the transaction with customers.All cars will be consolidated with Australian stock held by Honda Australia, which will mean new cars will be delivered to customers after purchase.The elimination of dealer volume incentives also means that Honda could, in theory, keep its driveaway pricing more competitive.Honda Australia has also confirmed that the new-generation version of its Jazz light car will not arrive Down Under, following the discontinuation of the mechanically related City late last year.Last year Honda sold 43,868 units (-14.9 per cent), ranking it as the ninth most-popular brand in the Australia market.It’s biggest seller, the CR-V mid-size SUV, sold 13,810 units, while the HR-V small crossover (11,731) and Civic small car (10,531) came in second and third respectively.Though the three nameplates accounted for 82.2 per cent of the brands volume, it says it will still offer the recently refreshed Accord sedan, Civic Type R hot hatch and Odyssey people mover.No mention was made of the continuation of the NSX hybrid supercar that is priced at $420,000 before on-road costs.Though a disruption to sales is expected, Honda expects its sales to stabilise at around 1650 units per month in mid-2021, or just under 20,000 sales annually.Honda Australia said the decision was made after “an extensive business review to understand how to make the business stronger and more enjoyable for customers in the long-term”.Honda Australia boss Stephen Collins said: “We can’t sit still; the Australian market has seen 23 consecutive months of decline and every automotive business is rapidly changing.“Customer preferences are changing and other industries have evolved while the automotive industry still sues a model that is decades old,”“We have excellent customer retention and want to reward our loyal and highly valued customer base with a more relational and less transactional experience. We know our customers want good value, strong resale and a seamless ownership experience on top of reliable engineering and quality vehicles.“The transition over the next 15 months will be a gradual process to allow our dealer network to fully prepare for the new business model.“Honda Australia has just celebrated its 50-year anniversary; Now is the time to take the necessary steps to seek to ensure the business and network are set up for the future and that our customers are with us for the next 50 years.”

It's a hybrid takeover at Honda, but it might be a while before we see electrified versions of its most popular cars...