Versatility vital to Honda

Honda plans to spread its hybrid message far and wide but its lineup also offers versatile accommodation like the recent addition, Freed.

The mini peoplemover is under consideration for the local market but Australians have generally taken up SUV options for family transportation duties more so than vans. Honda sells a seven-seat SUV, the Pilot, in the US and while it's LHD-only, Honda is ready to adapt products for various markets.

"What we need to know is customer necessities and demands... what they really want to drive. If the answer is a midsize SUV we will pursue it," Honda Australia MD and CEO, Satoshi Matsuzawa told the Carsales Network.

Sales are strong in the midsize SUV segment however Matsuzawa says "there is some confusion" regarding local customers' perceptions of a useful family runabout.

"What they need is the question. The take up of two-wheel drive [SUV models] proves they don't necessarily need four-wheel drive; they don't need offroad drivability.

"We know the mid-size SUV segment has boomed by the data but that is for the category. Behind that we want to know why the customer has chosen [to buy in] that category... Whether they need seven-seater capability and large cargo space with multi-arrangement seating or four-wheel drive capability."

Honda's Jazz features clever rear seating that provides cargo space not normally available in a small hatchback. The Freed model, sold in Japan and Thailand, uses an extended version of the Jazz's platform to offer seven-seat accommodation with decent head/leg/foot room for adult-sized passengers front and rear, and convenient access to cargo when the rearmost seats are not in use.

Honda Australia favours the Freed over the Pilot because the minivan, with 1.5-litre engine, meets new rules on CO2 emissions pending government announcement. Marketing manager Takuya Tsumura admits local demand for midsize SUVs is attractive but "the Australian government is already starting to say Euro 5 or 6, and European countries don't have many mid or large SUVs because they don't meet regulations."

Without MDX, Honda Australia is missing out on midsize SUV sales but marketing manager Takuya Tsumura told us "in two to three years time we will need to consider the direction of the government... most of the developed countries want hybrid and so we must prioritise for that."

Honda Australia favours the Freed over the Pilot because the minivan, with 1.5-litre engine, meets new rules on CO2 emissions pending an announcement from the government.

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