Honda has introduced the Honda Elevate as the latest form of WRV back at home, albeit with a few changes that are mostly in the interior
The mechanicals remain the same while the cabin is now all-black and a few changes to the upholstery. It also gets ADAS features similar to the ones on the India-spec Elevate. Surprisingly, it misses out on a sunroof, wireless phone charging, and a smaller touchscreen head unit that comes with physical buttons.
The WR-V gets the same exterior design as the Elevate and that’s not a bad thing considering how functional and simple it looks. It gets the same large grille at the front that houses the Honda logo and has the LED headlamps and DRLs flanking the sides on the top half. It gets silver roof rails at the top and silver skid plates below the air dam at the front. Even at the rear there are no changes and continues with the same design language.
The engine is also the same 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, but Honda has not disclosed the power output yet. In India, the same engine produces 121 bhp and 145 Nm of torque and is paired to either a 6-speed manual or a CVT automatic gearbox. We also believe that the WR-V will be equipped with only the CVT automatic transmission. The safety kit is expected to remain the same along with the same ADAS features which should make it a safe car.
On the exterior front, the only change we could see is that the India-spec Elevate gets 7 monotone colours and 3 dual-tone colour options while the Japan-spec WR-V gets only 5 monotone colours with no dual-tone even as an option. The major difference is in the interiors, and it starts with the all-black treatment of the cabin, which is a brown/beige theme in our Indian market.
No wireless phone charging and no sunroof which comes as a single-pane unit for the India-spec Elevate. It does get a touchscreen unit, but it definitely looks different as it has physical buttons and a volume knob on the side. The exact dimensions of the head unit are not revealed yet, but we believe it is smaller than the one present in the Elevate.
There is no news about a hybrid engine being an option for the Honda WR-V in Japan, but we believe it may be made available later but definitely, before the EV version of the Elevate is launched in India as Honda India has confirmed that we will not be getting the hybrid, and they are already working on the EV version already.
In India, the Honda Elevate starts from Rs 11 Lakh and the top-spec trim costs about Rs 16.28 Lakh (ex-showroom). Its rivals include Kia Seltos, Hyundai Creta, Skoda Kushaq, Volkswagen Taigun, Citroen C3 Aircross, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder, and MG Astor.