Honda’s EcoSport Rivaling Brio-based Compact SUV in New Rendering

Earlier this month we told you about Jnaneswar Sen, Senior VP, Sales and Marketing, Honda Cars India, realizing the growth and potential in the (compact) SUV segment. Now, chaps at Car & Driver Brazil have carried out a rendering of Honda’s compact SUV on the cover page of their magazine.

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Car & Driver has also mentioned it as a competitor to the EcoSport. Of course, they have not mentioned about it being based on the Brio anywhere, but that is obvious as it makes sense for Honda to bring in a compact SUV to India on a platform that already underpins the Brio and Mobilio. Apart from that there have already been hints from the company on this…

However, the rendering by Car & Driver aptly shows its resemblance to Hondas premium CR-V than to the MPV (aspirational value). The swooping greenhouse outline, vertical taillights, boot design and shoulder line are prominent styling cues that shout CR-V more than Mobilio.

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Honda Vezel

Although the rendering depicts an SUV that possibly looks bigger than four metres, Honda, while building this compact SUV from scratch, will try to bring it under the four-metre mark, at least for India. So, this Honda would probably come with a choice of three engines: Brio’s 1.2-litre petrol (read ‘excise subsidy’), City/Mobilio’s 1.5-litre diesel (will get the subsidy here too), and the City/Mobilio’s 1.5-litre petrol. A sub four-metre Honda SUV with a 1.5-litre diesel engine is going to make life difficult for the EcoSport. Very difficult!

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Yes, we agree that there are a lot of speculations at this point but Honda is definitely working on a Brio-based compact SUV and it is coming to India, and we have this possibility of it resembling this…

Related: Official: Honda’s Top Boss Confirms New Accord for India Next Year

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