Honda working on new Hyundai Santa Fe rival for right-hand drive markets – report

Honda has been without a large, three-row SUV in Australia for almost 20 years, but a long-awaited replacement for the MDX – and a new rival for the likes of the Toyota Kluger and Hyundai Santa Fe – could be coming.

Filipino website Autoindustriya reports a new generation of Avancier will enter production in Thailand in early 2027, while Japanese outlet Creative Trend reports this new large SUV will be launched in the Japanese market, where it has already been spied testing, by the end of March 2027.

Both Thailand and Japan are right-hand drive markets and, while left-hand drive vehicles are sold in the latter, it appears likely the new SUV will be produced in right-hand drive.

That opens up the possibility of exports to our market, given Honda Australia has imported vehicles from Thailand for decades. The CR-V and Accord found in Australian showrooms today are Thai-built.

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The new Avancier will reportedly use a 2.0-litre four-cylinder hybrid powertrain with dual electric motors, as seen in other Honda models. All-wheel drive will be available.

In the CR-V e:HEV hybrid, total outputs are 135kW of power and 335Nm of torque. It’s unclear if Honda will eke out more power given the Avancier will be a larger, heavier vehicle.

The Japanese automaker is working on a new V6 hybrid powertrain for larger vehicles, though thus far it has only been confirmed for use in upcoming models for the North American market. It’s due to enter production there in 2029.

Honda Australia has been shut out for decades from offering a large SUV.

The US-built Pilot has only ever been produced in left-hand drive, while the MDX from Honda’s premium Acura brand was only manufactured in right-hand drive for its first generation. It was sold here from 2003 to 2007.

Since its local discontinuation, the only seven-seat Honda SUV has been the mid-size CR-V.

The current Avancier is a Chinese-market model produced by the GAC Honda joint venture, with a lightly restyled version produced by Dongfeng Honda under the UR-V nameplate.

This SUV duo is offered with a choice of turbocharged 1.5-litre or 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engines, but no electrified powertrains are available.

Despite measuring over 4.8 metres long, the Avancier/UR-V only features two rows of seating. It’s been in production since 2016 and, though it has been updated since then, it’s very much showing its age in the brutally competitive Chinese market.

It’s unclear if Honda will produce the new Avancier in China as well as Thailand, though it appears to be shaping as the brand’s alternative seven-seat large SUV for markets outside North America, where the Pilot serves in this capacity.

The Avancier name was initially used from 1999 to 2004 on a Japanese-exclusive mid-size wagon related to the Accord. However, Honda shelved the name in favour of offering an Accord-badged wagon in markets such as Japan and Europe.

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