Honda UR-V only for China

Honda's all-new seven-seat SUV, built exclusively in and for China, will be known as the UR-V and – like the MDX crossover and Ridgeline ute – won't become available in Australia.

Instead, Honda Australia has all but confirmed it will release both five-seat and, for the first time, seven-seat versions of the next-generation CR-V due to appear next year.

According to Chinese website AutoHome, Honda has filed a trademark application to register the name 'HR-V' in China, where it will be applied to a production version of the large seven-seat Concept D crossover that debuted at the 2015 Shanghai motor show.

Honda China's new flagship model will be made in the world's most populous nation by the Guangzhou-Honda joint-venture, and should become available there with the same naturally-aspirated 2.4-litre and turbocharged 2.0-litre engines as the CR-V.

Honda Australia managing director Stephen Collins confirmed to motoring.com.au that the new seven-seat SUV will be sold in China as the U-RV, but said it won't grace local showrooms.

"Honda has sent an application to the authorities in China to register 'UR-V' in the country as a future Honda model," he said. "Honda Australia has no plans to introduce this model."

It's unclear whether the UR-V is based on the current CR-V or if it's mechanically similar to the long-wheelbase seven-seat version of next year's redesigned CR-V.

Either way, as we reported last June, both versions of the next CR-V will go on sale in Australia by mid-2017 and Honda can't wait to have a seven-seat SUV in local showrooms.

Asked specifically about the next-generation CR-V, Collins told motoring.com.au: "We’re looking at everything. I think technology, engine technology, is an important point that we’re looking very closely at.

"We’re looking at can we expand opportunities into the lower end of larger SUVs and the seven-seat question comes up.  So we’re exploring all of those opportunities. I think fundamentally CR-V has a very good reputation but we need to, in the next-generation car, I think pick up on those.

"The next CR-V, which a few of us have seen, is certainly more dynamic."

Currently, Honda Australia has only two SUVs – HR-V and CR-V – and one three-row model – the Odyssey people-mover.

In the US, however, Honda also sells the (Acura-badged) MDX, a facelifted version was revealed at last week's New York motor show, and the full-size Ridgeline pick-up, both of which – like China's UR-V – are only produced in left-hand drive.

Collins lamented the lack of right-hand drive SUVs from Honda generally, and nominated the large SUV and ute segments as the most conspicuous holes in Honda's Australian model range.

"The issue is right- and left-hand drive," he said. "It’s probably the same answer I’ve given you for the last three years. I wish it was different but it’s not.

"Look, the biggest opportunity in our line-up, where we don’t have a competitor, is large SUV and pick-up, and on both of those fronts there are vehicles in the US but there’s no availability for right-hand drive.

"Look, if a right-hand drive [Ridgeline] was to become even half an option, we’d be at the front of the queue for it, but there’s no prospect of that at this stage. They’re the two gaps in our line-up, I would say."

Collins said Honda Australia would sell around 40,000 vehicles again this year, despite the addition of the new Civic sedan mid-year and new NSX supercar in November.

He said sales would spike to 50,000 in 2017, when the next Civic hatch, Civic Type-R and two new CR-Vs arrive Down Under.