New Honda SUV rivaling Hyundai Creta, Seltos: Unofficial pre-booking open at dealerships

Honda is planning to release a new SUV in India soon, which is expected to be a competitor to the Hyundai Creta. Even though there is no official announcement from Honda yet, some Honda dealerships have started accepting pre-bookings for the upcoming mid-size SUV.

The model is already being tested and has been seen on the roads in India. It is believed to be the Indonesian WR-V, but it might have a new name in India to differentiate it from the previous model.

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The new compact SUV is expected to be unveiled officially in April 2023 and may be delivered to customers during the Diwali season. Update: Honda Elevate mid-size SUV to be unveiled on June 6, 2023

Engines, specifications

It will be powered by a 121PS 1.5-litre petrol engine from the Honda City, and it will come with a CVT as standard. The interior will look similar to the Amaze with an all-black theme and a seven-inch touchscreen. The new SUV will be based on the Amaze platform and is available in three variants in the Indonesian market. In India, we do not know if they will bring in an RS version. Another possibility is that the vehicle will have the petrol-hybrid motor from the Honda City hybrid – this will make it the third hybrid compact SUV in India, after Maruti Grand Vitara and Toyota HyRyder, both of which are essentially the same vehicle.

Looks

Lookswise, the Indonesian Honda WR-V looks like a proper compact SUV (Well, what we call a compact SUV in India) rather than a more butch Honda Jazz, which the last generation WR-V was.

The new WR-V from Honda looks really stylish with its honeycomb mesh grille and chrome elements in the front. It also has LED headlamps and turn indicators. The front bumper is sharp and has a big air dam and LED fog lamps.

The sides of the SUV have flared wheel arches and 17-inch alloy wheels. It comes in six different colors, including a red and black dual-tone option. The rear of the SUV has split LED tail lamps and a rugged-looking bumper.

From the recent spy shots, we can see that the SUV has an upright bonnet, horizontal LED DRLs, a wide grille, sleek LED headlights, door-mounted ORVMs, and flared wheel arches. The SUV will also have advanced driver assistance features, an electric sunroof, roof rails, a shark fin antenna, an integrated spoiler, a rear wiper, and a rear defogger.

Dimensions

If the upcoming SUV is the Indonesian WR-V, then it would be very slightly shorter than its main rivals but slightly taller.

The Honda WR-V in Indonesia has is 4060 mm long, 1780 mm wide 1608 mm tall. .The Kia Seltos in India is 4315 mm long, 1800 mm wide and 1620 mm tall. So, the Kia Seltos is longer and wider than the Honda WR-V but is shorter in height.

The Hyundai Creta has dimensions of 4300 mm Llength, 1790 mm width and 1635 height. the Hyundai Creta is longer and wider than the Honda WR-V but is shorter in height. The MG Astor is the same as Creta but is slightly wider.

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