Finally on its way: Honda starts teasing new CR-V for South Africa

Unveiled in Europe last year, but on-sale in North America since 2022, Honda South Africa has finally confirmed availability of the sixth generation CR-V more than likely next month.

Completely new

Wholly new despite sharing the same silhouette as the fifth generation, the new internally named RS CR-V not only rides on a new platform, but gains on every dimensional front as well offering more boot space ranging between 1 027-litres and 2 166-litres with the 60/40 split rear seat folded down.

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Again, offered with five or seven seats, the official teaser released by Honda South Africa on its Instagram page only shows a blacked-out outline followed by the illumination of the LED headlights and a caption reading, “built for a lifetime of memories”.

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Potentially on track to be modelled on the European-spec CR-V instead of the US equivalent, the South African version could debut as a hybrid incorporating elements from both mentioned derivatives should that be the case.

While styling will largely be derived from the Old Continent example, the interior could be different by seeing the push-buttons for the transmission dropped in favour of the Stateside version’s gear lever.

What to expect up front

In addition to model specific specification items, the main difference will be the choice of engines Honda South Africa eventually opts for.

Similar to the outgoing generation, the combination of the 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine and CVT will almost certainly be retained given its usage as the sole option on the Civic RS.

In the US, outputs stand at 140kW/243Nm delivered through the CVT to the front or all four wheels.

While the flagship powerplant in Europe, the plug-in hybrid e:PHEV, is unlikely to be offered, the conventional hybrid e:HEV could be based on Honda dropping the regular petrol engine for the electrified unit in the restructured Fit range last year.

Combining a normally aspirated 2.0-litre petrol engine with a pair of electric motor, the setup produces a combined 150kW/335Nm delivered to the front or all four wheels through an e-CVT.

How much?

On-sale in Australasia since September last year motivated by either the e:HEV or turbocharged petrol, the CR-V will come with a significant premium over the outgoing RW generation that benefitted from a mid-life facelift three years ago after what had been a production run of four years.

As a comparison, current pricing starts at R609 900 for the entry-level 2.0 Comfort and ends at R838 900 for the all-wheel-drive Exclusive powered by the 1.5-litre turbo.

Based on spec and model count, which could be reduced from the present four, speculation points to a starting sticker of around R700 000 to R750 000.

However, as mentioned, this is purely speculative and will only be revealed once the wraps come off within the next few weeks.

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