Big news finally coming from the brand which has not left a mark in the Indian SUV segment. Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL) has officially announced that their new SUV would be called the Elevate in the Indian market. This would be the brands all-new product to be launched in 2023, and this also marks the official start to the run towards the final product unveil in the coming weeks.
To make it very clear, the Honda Elevate SUV would be a rival to the likes of Hyundai Creta & Kia Seltos. While the now discontinued Honda WR-V was positioned as a compact SUV to rival the Hyundai Venue for example, it was still a Jazz based crossover. The Honda Elevate is an all-new product based on the City sedan platform and will measure more than 4-metres in length. This would be Honda’s first proper mid-size SUV. Do note, even the BR-V which was launched years ago was nothing but a Mobilio with some extra jazz.
Honda’s all-new Elevate SUV will make a world premiere in India in June 2023 and the product launch is expected by or before the festive season of this year. The Elevate has been developed as a global model, so it would be exported from India to other key emerging markets. Honda claims that the Elevate would be the perfect urban SUV for the Indian audience. The Elevate would first arrive in India, and then reach other markets in the world. It is Made-in-India, but a global SUV.
Honda’s Elevate SUV would come with the same petrol engine option as seen with the Honda City sedan. It would be a 1.5L naturally aspirated petrol motor coupled to a manual or a CVT gearbox. Honda could also at a later stage introduce the strong hybrid variant. However, there won’t be any diesel engine option. In the segment, the Hyundai Creta & Kia Seltos are still sold with a diesel engine option, and we wish that Honda could have brought back their 1.5L i-DTEC which was a brilliantly efficient motor. Honda Elevate would be a 2-wheel-drive, front-wheel-drive SUV, but will be loaded with all the latest safety tech as per segment standards.