Honda has just taken the wraps off the next-generation HR-V (known as the Vezel in Japan). If you like it, well, you’d better buy a plane ticket, because it isn’t coming to the United States. Instead, Honda will develop a separate version of the HR-V that Honda says will be “designed to meet the distinct needs of U.S. customers, and will differ from the Honda Vezel/HR-V that will be introduced in other regions.”
That said, considering Honda’s volume, and the growth of the small-SUV segment, in the U.S., it makes sense to create an HR-V tailored to American buyers. HR-V sales were up sharply for 2019, and finished out 2020 only slightly behind their 2018 figure.
So what’s the plan for an American HR-V? The current version of the HR-V will continue on through the 2021 model year, with the new U.S.-specific version coming as a 2022 model. That means we should see it (possibly as a thinly-veiled “prototype”) some time in the next few months.
The HR-V wouldn’t be the first U.S.-exclusive Honda model. Honda began making separate versions of the Accord for North America and Europe/Japan in the early 2000s (with the European Accord sold here as the Acura TSX). Honda’s biggest SUVs, the Pilot and Passport, are currently exclusive to the North American market.
