HR-V to match CR-V sales says Honda

Honda Australia has officially launched its HR-V light SUV this week, 10 days after the model officially reached local showrooms.

In something of a turnaround of fortunes, it seems the HR-V will soon rival the medium segment CR-V in terms of sales, with Honda Australia managing director, Stephen Collins, predicting a monthly sales tally of approximately 800 units.

Collins says those numbers should help return Honda to a yearly tally of 40,000 by the end of 2015, and says the arrival of new Jazz late last year, coupled to the arrival of HR-V and recent discounting to its Odyssey people mover should drive up sales.

Honda says its new HR-V was benchmarked on rivals including the Nissan QASHQAI and Audi Q3, adding that the high-riding, front-wheel drive only SUV offers a competitive entry point in the segment (from $24,990 plus ORCs) owing to the inclusion of a continuously variable (automatic) transmission as standard.

"There's no manual available globally, but we're not concerned about that," said Collins. "The lion's share of this segment is automatic or CVT, so we don't think it's an issue. We think at $24,990 with a standard CVT and the gear it's got in it, we believe that it's super competitive."

"We believe that we've priced the HR-V very sharply to ensure that it provides segment-leading value for money," Collins added. "We're planning on selling around 800 units per month, and this will well and truly put us a key player in the private small SUV segment."

While admittedly cheaper, the nearest rivals to the HR-V arrive standard with a manual transmission, something Honda will not offer on its latest high-riding hatch until the diesel model arrives sometime in the next year or two. That model, likely powered by the 1.6-litre i-DTEC engine offered in European-spec CR-V, is estimated to offer 88kW and 300Nm, comparing favourably with the HR-V 1.8-litre petrol and its 105kW and 172Nm.

"At this stage we have no plans for a hybrid variant," said Collins. "I can say that we will be offering a diesel option, though exact timing is still to be confirmed."

Collins says he expects the HR-V sales split to favour the mid-grade VTi-S to the tune of 40 per cent, with high-grade VTi-L variants taking 35 per cent and the base-grade VTi just 25, adding that "60 per cent of all sales will come from customers new to the Honda brand".

Honda said it received more than 21,000 expressions of interest in the new HR-V pre-launch, with over 148,000 hits on the company's website. It says the model's "edgy, dynamic and exciting" styling will differentiate the model to "pre-family" buyers, and says it expects minimal cannibalisation of CR-V sales as a result.

Based on the Jazz (and City) platform, the HR-V measures 4294mm long by 1772mm wide and 1605mm high, and rides on a 2610mm wheelbase. Honda says buyers chasing a high-riding position and comfortable hip-point will be drawn to the model's proportions, adding that the inclusion of longer 12-month / 15,000km service intervals and an included capped-price servicing programme are also big draw cards for the target demographic.

Honda has released pricing and specification information on the HR-V previously.