Honda appears to have acknowledged People love an off-roader, or on the very least, they love a automotive that appears like an off-roader. Issues obtained actual just lately when it pulled the covers off the Honda Racing Passport TrailSport at SEMA with chunkier tires, extra lighting, an 8,000-pound winch, aluminum skid plates, a raised suspension and a complete bunch of different off-road-focused goodies. This sick venture could also be a one-off, however it’s beginning to look an increasing number of like a place to begin for the place Honda’s TrailSport sub-brand is headed.
At a roundtable with journalists in Tokyo, Kazuhiro Takizawa, president and CEO of Honda America, spoke concerning the model’s future plans for TrailSport, and there is a hell of quite a bit to be excited for should you’re into Hondas or off-roading.
Full Disclosure: Honda flew me and a gaggle of journalists out to Tokyo, put us up in beautiful inns and fed us superb meals, all so we may take a look at the cool stuff it was engaged on in and across the Japan Mobility Present.
The TrailSport forward
I’ve obtained some excellent news and I’ve obtained some unhealthy information. That sick-ass Honda Racing Passport Trailsport is certainly only a SEMA construct for now. It is a bit too bespoke and excessive for Honda to supply to its prospects instantly, however that does not imply enjoyable issues aren’t on the horizon. Takizawa informed the group that Honda is seeking to develop the TrailSport trim additional than the place it’s now. Presently, Honda provides TrailSport variations 4 fashions: CR-V, Ridgeline, Passport and Pilot. I will be actual, I am unsure the place it will develop to within the lineup, except Honda obtained bizarre with it and made an HR-V TrailSport or Prologue TrailSport.
In any case, Takizawa needs to make TrailSport the Sort R of off-roaders, which I feel is a wonderful concept. “With some fashions, we’ve got the Sort R sports activities collection on the highway, we need to improve our off-road — not simply the picture however the precise off-road functionality for these truck fashions,” Takizawa mentioned. He went on to say that the off-road functionality is not only about how the vehicles look, however bettering floor clearance and beefing up suspension.
Proper now, it isn’t clear if Honda plans to develop the capabilities of the TrailSport fashions it already makes or if it would certainly enterprise into new market segments. “That is our new problem,” Takizawa mentioned. “Electrification is not only our problem, however we’re difficult on this discipline additionally.”
I would prefer to level out that the query about TrailSport was requested by none aside from The Drive’s very good-looking and really midwestern Director of Content material and Product, Joel Feder, and he’s going to be so freaking annoying if I do not embody this shoutout. Mazel tov, buddy.
