CR-V to be Honda's first diesel auto

The CR-V will be Honda’s first diesel model paired with an automatic transmission in Australia when it arrives just in time for Christmas.

Expected to add between 200 and 300 sales per month to the CR-V’s circa-1200 sales this year, the new diesel CR-V will be offered in both manual and automatic guises -- not just auto as previously thought.

The UK-built diesel will bolster the already strong-selling CR-V, which was launched here late last year and found 1336 customers in March, making it the best-selling petrol SUV in its class. It also marks the CR-V's second best sales month on record.

"It'll arrive very late this year, late December," said Honda Australia Director Stephen Collins of the CR-V diesel auto.

"It will definitely be available in manual and auto and that's really what will open the big opportunities for us in the core segment," he said. "Certainly metro but also our rural dealers and buyers will come into the fold as well."

The diesel CR-V will be powered by a 110kW/350Nm 2.2-litre four-cylinder engine and despite the option of a more affordable manual gearbox, Honda is likely to price the new model in the high $30,000 bracket.

It says this is due to the extra cost of the diesel technology and the increased freight expenses when importing from the UK. Petrol models are sourced from Thailand.

Mr Collins said up to two variants of the CR-V diesel will be offered.

"We're discussing model variants now. It could possibly be just one spec model, a bit similar to our new diesel Civic hatch, where we have a really well specified mid to high-end model," he said.

“It's important not to have too many grades. I feel we'll have a really well specified car, but whether it's one or two specs is yet to be determined.”

The just-launched Civic DTi-S hatch is Honda's first diesel vehicle on sale in Australia, but it's not available with an automatic transmission and probably never will be.

Around 80 per cent of the 10,000-unit annual diesel hatch market is accounted for by automatic variants and, though Collins expressed his desire for an automatic, he conceded there "is not one in development currently”.

The reason is that there is little demand for an automatic diesel in Europe, the Civic's primary market, and the assistant chief engineer for Honda's diesel powertrain program, Takeshi Kurotobi, also said it was a challenge fitting a larger automatic gearbox in the car.

Before the new CR-V diesel arrives late in 2013, Honda will launch a new wide-body Accord in May, but the plug-in version offered in the US is an unlikely starter in Australia.

"We're discussing it," says Collins of the plug-in Accord, "but there's no current plan. For us globally there's certainly interest in it, but locally it's not something we're actively pursuing."

Other Honda models off-limits to Australians include the Accord Euro Tourer, which Collins calls "very niche".

"Officially it's available, it's sold in other markets, but it's not something we want. We're happy with Euro sedan, and we have no current plan for importing the Tourer."

Next year will see at least two new Honda models hit Australia. The new Honda Jazz arrives in mid-2014 and will be joined by a new compact 'Urban SUV' that shares its underpinnings with the Jazz and will slot in underneath the CR-V.

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