[Vikram Arya]

Honda is planning to launch “Passport” a five-seater SUV in early 2019 that is to be slotted between its full size SUV the Pilot & the smaller CR-V.

Under the hood, it has 3.5-liter V-6 as seen in the Pilot making 280 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque mated to Honda's own nine-speed automatic transmission. Buyers can choose between front and all-wheel drive. When all four wheels are driven, the Passport's i-VTM4 torque vectoring system can send up to 70 percent of the power to the rear axle, 100 percent of which can then be given to either the left or right rear wheel.

Passport was fully developed at Honda's R&D facility in Torrance, California and Raymond, Ohio. The SUV, along with its V-6 engine, will be assembled in Lincoln, Alabama.

http://www.thedrive.com/news/25174/2...little-brother

[libranof1987]

This looks like a pretty good car; essentially a two-row Pilot as the reports call it. Smart move by Honda considering the overall sentiment towards SUVs, especially given the oil prices.

Four SUVs (HR-V, CR-V, Passport and Pilot) is a pretty good portfolio in the mass car segment.

[RM Motorsports]

2019 Honda Passport - First Look

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp8TKC4mAgM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3LTxOovjHo

[mchandra13]

This is a long overdue product in the SUV space in US market. Currently there is a sort of vacuum in this segment in US. Apart from Nissan Murano and Hyundai Santa Fe, I could not think of a real mid size 2 row SUV in the US market.

The CRV, Rav4, Mazda CX5, Rogue and the likes can be termed as small SUVs and are cramped for space both in the rear seat and the boot space. Apart from space, most of these small SUVs are V4 turbos which give mileage but are dull to drive(by atleast US standards), with the exception of CX5 which is very sporty.

A 2 row SUV with oodles of space and a solid V6 with 9 Speed transmission should sell well for Honda. I hope they have taken care of the issues with 9 Speed transmission which are experienced by the current gen Pilot owners for the last 2 years.

Honda uses the same 9 speed transmission in Acura MDX where its touted as one of the best in the segment.

[hema4saran]

Now this come in as a surprise for me and I don't know where they will price this one. Even CRV touring is priced at $34k drive out. Expecting some cross shopping in this segment now as few of the reports suggest that pricing will start at higher 20s and go till 45k.

Not sure if Honda will put older 9 speed transmission. They introduced a new 10 speed in their Odyssey and Accord which is better than 9 speed. BTW I hate that push button gears .

Originally Posted by mchandra13

Apart from Nissan Murano and Hyundai Santa Fe, I could not think of a real mid size 2 row SUV in the US market.

The CRV, Rav4, Mazda CX5, Rogue and the likes can be termed as small SUVs and are cramped for space both in the rear seat and the boot space. Apart from space, most of these small SUVs are V4 turbos which give mileage but are dull to drive(by atleast US standards), with the exception of CX5 which is very sporty.

There are few other cars competing in the segment including Ford Edge, Chevy Blazer(Upcoming), Jeep Grand Cherokee. Ford just upgraded the edge with better transmission for this year. Grand Cherokee is only one which is too long in the teeth and current model is running from 2011 without major changes.

While I agree to most of your points, The space in CRV/RAV-4/Rogue is very good and even the trunk volume is better. I am in market for one now and I compared all the trunk sizes of these segments and coming up with this point. If you sit in the 2017/18 CRV, it will put some other models to shame in terms of space. There is one more worthy competitor for sportiness in Ford Escape. It is tad smaller but the Ecoboost engine packs a punch for that car. For last year RAV4/Rogue alone sold above 400k cars closely followed by CRV. Packaging efficiency has increased a lot nowadays and manufacturers know how to entice their customers.

Most of the crossovers were redesigned in past few years except the Escape and people are flocking the crossovers like hot cakes. Subaru Forester also under went design change for 2019 and it is the most preferred vehicle in snowy areas and also very reliable.

Manufacturers created one more SUV segment now called sub-compact and introduced models such as Ford Ecosport, Toyota CHR, Chevy Trax, Honda HRV, Subaru Crosstrek, Jeep Renegade etc. These are the ones which are very small and cramped in middle rows and trunk space.

[mchandra13]

Originally Posted by hema4saran

Now this come in as a surprise for me and I don't know where they will price this one. Even CRV touring is priced at $34k drive out. Expecting some cross shopping in this segment now as few of the reports suggest that pricing will start at higher 20s and go till 45k.

Not sure if Honda will put older 9 speed transmission. They introduced a new 10 speed in their Odyssey and Accord which is better than 9 speed. BTW I hate that push button gears .

It is supposed to be priced between CRV and Pilot and is going to have quite a bit of overlap with both at the low end and top end. Passport is supposed to have the 9 Speed one.

Originally Posted by hema4saran

There are few other cars competing in the segment including Ford Edge, Chevy Blazer(Upcoming), Jeep Grand Cherokee. Ford just upgraded the edge with better transmission for this year. Grand Cherokee is only one which is too long in the teeth and current model is running from 2011 without major changes.

Apart from the F series trucks, the next best selling Ford is Escape followed by Ford Explorer. The Ford Edge is ranked 38 by sales volume in 2018. While I agree it is spacious, Ford Edge is not even a contender when we are talking about CRV/Rav4/Rogue which are in top 10 best sellers. There is a good reason why they sell so much. Jeep Grand Cherokee has both 2 row and 3 row versions and has a wide range starting from 35k to 90k for the top most end. so it falls across multiple categories and I do agree it is a worthy competitor. Grand Cherokee and Wrangler are the only 2 vehicles I like in the Jeep portfolio. Offlate Chevy has been making some good SUVs/Crossovers. I expect Blazer to be good.

Originally Posted by hema4saran

While I agree to most of your points, The space in CRV/RAV-4/Rogue is very good and even the trunk volume is better. I am in market for one now and I compared all the trunk sizes of these segments and coming up with this point. If you sit in the 2017/18 CRV, it will put some other models to shame in terms of space. There is one more worthy competitor for sportiness in Ford Escape. It is tad smaller but the Ecoboost engine packs a punch for that car. For last year RAV4/Rogue alone sold above 400k cars closely followed by CRV. Packaging efficiency has increased a lot nowadays and manufacturers know how to entice their customers.

I owned a current gen Honda Pilot which I sold early this year when we moved back to India. I also had a Santa Fe which I sold in 2017. The space I am used to in these cars make the space in CRV/Rogue/Rav4 as very small. Its a relative comparison. Just to give a small eg. when I bought a 55' TV, I could easily load it into the trunk of my Pilot without touching the second row seats. By the time, I wanted to return the TV, I sold my Pilot and was driving a Rogue, where I needed to fold the 2nd row to fit the TV. Having said that, I do agree the new CRV definitely has added space now. So is the 2019 Rav4.
If you are in the market, Passport definitely is worth a consideration. Also checkout the new Santa Fe. The prices of Cars have increased like crazy in US in the last 2 years. Its hard to think that a top end Camry costs 35k now.

Originally Posted by hema4saran

Most of the crossovers were redesigned in past few years except the Escape and people are flocking the crossovers like hot cakes. Subaru Forester also under went design change for 2019 and it is the most preferred vehicle in snowy areas and also very reliable.

Subaru is not for everyone. But it has a cult following among its followers and is supposed to be one of the best in terms of value retention even after many years. Infact, its very hard to find second hand Subarus in the market as people dont like to change them often. The USP of Subaru is all their cars/SUVs come with their legendary AWD by default.

Originally Posted by hema4saran

Manufacturers created one more SUV segment now called sub-compact and introduced models such as Ford Ecosport, Toyota CHR, Chevy Trax, Honda HRV, Subaru Crosstrek, Jeep Renegade etc. These are the ones which are very small and cramped in middle rows and trunk space.

Naturally Subaru Crosstrek is the best driving car in this segment. CHR looks ok but has lot of issues and by releasing a Corolla hatch Toyota has kind of diluted the sales of CHR anyways. Jeep Renegade can be avoided in this segment.