Confirmed: Honda ZR-V coming next year

Honda has confirmed the all-new mid-size hybrid SUV designed to take the fight to the best-selling Toyota RAV4 Hybrid in markets including Australia from next year will wear the ‘Honda ZR-V’ nameplate.

As previously reported by carsales, the ZR-V will be positioned between the new-generation Honda HR-V and the bigger CR-V, which is itself expected to grow in size and push upmarket in its next generation, which is also due here in 2023 – with both hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains.

Power and torque will come exclusively from Honda’s e:HEV full hybrid powertrain, adding more weight to the likelihood of the ZR-V being a rebadged version of the North American HR-V (which is different to the global one).

The ZR-V has already been confirmed for our market by Honda Australia executives, but they stopped short of confirming the name at the time – the ZR-V nameplate was trademarked locally back in May 2020 and announced globally overnight.

According to Honda HQ, the announcement marks the start of the next stage in the brand’s European electrification strategy, with more electrified models to follow.

The ZR-V’s arrival Down Under will expand Honda’s local SUV line-up to three, following the Honda Civic e:HEV hybrid’s local release around September and the all-new Civic Type R hot hatch’s Australian launch later this year – both based on the new Civic hatch released here late last year.

While there’s no mention of it in the ZR-V announcement, a traditional petrol engine is also widely expected to feature within the all-new mid-size SUV model line-up; namely the familiar 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder as seen in other models.

No specific timing has been locked in just yet, but Honda Australia has nominated an intended launch sometime next year, when a new-generation Accord will also arrive, marking the renewal of the entire Honda Australia range by the end of next year.

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