Honda’s big product for our region next year is the BR-V, which will begin production in Indonesia in January 2016. It will be officially launched in the republic shortly after, and now it has been confirmed that Thailand will get the seven-seat SUV in the first quarter of 2016. Thai BR-Vs will be locally assembled.
The BR-V will appear at the 2015 Thailand International Motor Expo next month as a prototype, and order books will be open at the year-ending, sales-driven motor show in the Land of Smiles.
The timeline was revealed to Bangkok Post by Honda Automobile (Thailand) COO Pitak Pruittisarikorn in Japan last month, where the BR-V was presented to ASEAN journalists at the Motegi circuit. We were there as well – check out our first impressions of the BR-V.
Our time with the BR-V in Japan was the first full view of the Mobilio-based SUV, which made its world debut in prototype form at the 2015 Gaikindo Indonesian International Auto Show (GIIAS) back in August. A short closed-loop drive of the car also offered a first look at the Honda’s interior.
Honda Malaysia has not mentioned anything concrete regarding the BR-V, but the fact that a test drive session was arranged for local media is a hint of the company’s intentions. When it comes in, the BR-V will be positioned (and priced) below the HR-V and CR-V despite offering an extra row of seats. Think of it as a budget MPV like the Toyota Avanza and Nissan Grand Livina, but with “SUV style” in place of the typical people carrier body. 1.5 litre engine, CVT gearbox, as per the City and Jazz.
Is this what Malaysians need? Full live gallery of the BR-V, with commentary, here.
GALLERY: Honda BR-V at the Twin Ring Motegi
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Looks ok. Not really big and not really small. A worthy contender to the Grand Livina and Avanza…
Wait a minute, what about the toyota Rush? Didn’t that have an SUV look with extra two seats too?
Does not look that good but way way better than Dino Avanza.
what….is….that!!! :O
Proton Savvy SUV?
Having 1.5L mated with only Front Wheel drive is already heavily underpowered.
packed with CVT zero responsiveness.
how to pickup?
i cannot imagine the SAGA CVT feeling in this car.
pay RM80k for the same feeling.
Prolly saga cvt has more pick up than this underpower suv till honda plonks in vtec turbo
I have a saga flx 1.3 exec and honda jazz v spec. Mind you, i like saga cvt more than honda. Honda cvt only excel in low speed. At high speed, saga cvt is much better.
Having 1.5L mated with only Front Wheel drive is already heavily underpowered.
packed with CVT zero responsiveness.
how to pickup?
i cannot imagine the SAGA CVT feeling in this car.
pay RM80k for the same feeling.
Why on earth did they design the window line like that? Don’t you all think its better for them to stick to a classic straight line? Ridiculous!
Atleast 1.8
i am sure honda reps are monitoring this:
i am ready to buy a 7seater. please make it good so i dont have to buy from mr T and mr N.
No we Malaysians certainly dont want this, enough with avanza, alza, exora, and grand livina. Reserve for us the better ones, we are not that desperate.
We malaysians dont want this? Which malaysians are u talking about? The thousands that bought all the cars u listed? Everyone wants better cars but affordability remains an issue. And dont talk about desperation when u have no idea about it.
what we want is MPV like the Biante, Serena and Noah…..