All-new Honda CR-V revealed

The first clues emerged four months ago via a solitary image of a CR-V Concept, and now a selection of images of Honda’s all-new showroom-ready compact SUV have popped up on the company’s Japanese domestic market website.

The latest pics reveal Honda hasn’t strayed to far from the CR-V Concept, which made its world debut in September at the seemingly obscure Orange County International Auto Show in Southern California.

The production version -- expected to be revealed to the public at this month’s Los Angeles motor show -- carries over most of what we saw in the concept, but the wheel/tyre combo is far more conservative, the blacked-out headlight bezels are gone, and the gloss-black sill panels are now in a matte finish.

However, the streamlined proportions of the concept remain, along with the three-bar grille and tapered-back headlights. The unusual humpback rear-end treatment has also made the transition to production reality, and the end result looks reasonably good for a vehicle of this genre.

Under the revamped bodyshell sits an all-new new platform that allegedly contributes to a lower kerb weight than the current vehicle. Despite being lighter, interior space is expected to grow, as is load-carrying capacity, thanks to a lower floor.

Technical details remain scarce, but it’s believed the new CR-V will continue to be powered by a 2.4-litre engine, albeit with efficiency gains. The rumour mill suggests the existing model’s five-speed auto tranny will be ditched in favour of a six-speeder.

Formerly dominant in the compact SUV sales charts, the CR-V has now been swamped by a horde of rivals. Its tally of 4398 Australian sales until the end of September was comfortably topped by the Subaru Forester (9998 sales), Nissan X-Trail (8835), Toyota RAV4 (8817), Hyundai ix35 (8723) and Nissan Dualis (6524). In other words, the new model can’t come soon enough…

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site…