Honda may not be a ‘shapeshifter’ but ‘innovator’ should be a modest descript
Seldom swayed by the opinions of others, Iain Robertson admits to being stymied by the staccato style delivery of the Honda marque as it ventures into the brave new world of electrification and turns its H-RV into a non-descript but hybrid SUV clone.
Entering the rickety wooden wardrobe door to the Narnian World of Electric Adventures that are based on an ill-founded and oft-questionable scientific backdrop is the first impression that I obtain, when contemplating Honda’s prescient trip into the EV scene. In fact, I do wonder if the company’s self-belief in its own hydrogen and fuel cell developments that are not based on a group collaboration, as they are within VW, BMW, or even Mercedes-Benz, may be causing both confusion and misdirection.
A well-known colleague described Honda’s abruptly named ‘e’ model as ‘a car designed in the early-1980s to represent what we might expect from Honda in the 2020s’. To be frank, not having given it much more thought than to suggest that the Honda e looked like a Seat Arosa/VW Lupo, while upsetting Ford that had coined the Ka model in such a perfect way and would have loved to have the same apposite expressionism for any future electric tiddler in its line-up, the ‘e’ is cute, overpriced (crikey…even the latest Mazda MX-30 is cheaper!) and ever-so-slightly ‘retro’.
Let’s face it, thirty grand is one helluva price ticket for a 2+2 city car, EV, or not. Honda, in believing itself to be a Japanese BMW and perpetrating that mental image among its cohort of ardent fans, has always carried a modest price premium on all of its models. To be fair to the brand, it wears it well, as it also carries strong residual values, a factor that obviates any upfront price pretensions. While the company’s database manager at the Bracknell (UK) headquarters is keen to grab internet access to your life, should you feign interest in its new H-RV, there is a judicious disinterest in quoting even a ballpark price for the newcomer, set to arrive this autumn.
Naturally, Honda wants to hold all the marketing cards for its forthcoming H-RV, which does appear to have fallen into a Peugeot-esque pig farm on the looks front. Allowing price information out of the trough, however scant, is clearly one step too far for it. However, with the current HR-V costing a whisker below £21,000 (the top Sport auto variant setting off a few warning buzzers at almost £9k more), I cannot see the new hybrid H-RV being tagged at much less than ‘from £30,000’. With the most recent governmental grand grant slashed off what was available, Honda needs to be extra careful that the top versions of its newcomer do not exceed £35k, as that would breach the grant threshold. Although slightly disingenuous to promote the new H-RV as ‘a new style of hybrid’, I worry that Honda may also be missing some vital points of differentiation.
Perhaps Honda is attempting to emulate its homeland rival, Toyota, on the style front? After all, for the best part of fifty years, blandness and ordinariness maintained the flotation rate of Toyota and did it no apparent harm in world domination terms. However, Honda has always been a conservative brand possessing a timely but occasionally skew ball innovative twist. In a Pythonesque manner, let’s see what Honda has given us over the years:
- * Variable valve technology (CVCC and V-tec)
- * ‘Magic’ folding rear seats (cinema-style)
- * FCX Clarity (hydrogen power sedan for US)
- * Four-wheel-steering (on the 1987 Prelude model)
- * Pioneering Insight 1.0-litre petrol-electric hybrid model.
Perhaps it is not as much as may have been thought and the impact, by way of replication, on the rest of the new car scene, has not exactly been a bomb blast, more of a wee firecracker. Yet, it does not reduce the fascination that brand fans harbour for it.
The comprehensively revised H-RV retains a central location for the fuel tank, which is said to be better for both balance and safety. It also retains the ‘concealed’ rear door handles. However, apart from a finely slatted front grille, within which the ‘H’ logo is almost lost, observers could be looking at any one of the countless mid-range SUV-crossover models available from the majority of Honda’s rivals and, to be frank, that is simply not good enough.
Naturally, Honda reverts to its ‘Man-Max, Machine-Min’ development strategy, which purports that the purpose of technology and design is to serve the needs of the driver and passengers. Yet, even the conservative Honda buyer wants something that makes his machine stand out from the opposition. Personally, I could care less if it returns 150mpg, emits just 35g/km of CO2, accelerates from 0-60mph in 7.5s, with a top speed of 125mph, an EV range of 35mls and the cornering talents of a sportscar, when I struggle to recognise it as a Honda. Even the ‘aeons-old’ ‘e’ remains recognisable.
It worries me that the new H-RV is based on Honda’s global small platform but is managed by Honda’s large project leader, which, in itself, seems to suggest an internal disconnect. The design of H-RV is clean enough and lacks even the little styling fripperies in evidence on the outgoing model but, both inside and out, it lacks those nuances that would make it recognisable. Honda states that it wants to appeal to a new generation of car owners but, while space utilisation, comfort, connectivity, reliability (seldom a Honda problem) and enhanced versatility are all said to combine in the perfection of a new Honda H-RV, I contend that a neutered design stance will act as a greater turn-off to a brand in potential peril than relying on a hackneyed ‘man vs. machine’ strapline!
Just when you think that Honda may have finally overcome its lack of Soichiro, its rudderless design department hoves into view, armed with ill-conceived marketing bits and bobs that nobody really desires. Honda’s mojo may be as much at sea, as it has ever been in the past thirty years, since its founder passed away. The school report reads: ‘Must do better!’.