Honda's new Passport SUV lands in LA later in November
The new SUV will live between the Pilot and the CR-V in Honda's lineup.
Way back in January, a rumor started floating around that Honda might revive its long-dead Passport name for a forthcoming SUV. Now, almost 10 months later, Honda confirmed today that the rumors are true and that we'll see the new Passport via a livestreamed reveal event on Nov. 27, followed the next day by its first auto show appearance in Los Angeles.
Read the 2019 Honda Passport review
Unlike the last Passport, which went the way of the dodo back in 2002, this one won't be a fancy rebadged Isuzu. Instead, it will be built by Honda in the US and situated in between the CR-V and the Pilot in Honda's ever-expanding crossover and SUV range.
"The new Passport is a more personal, powerful and off-road-capable SUV that hits the sweet spot between daily driving comfort and weekend off-road, all-weather adventure capability," Henio Arcangeli, Jr., senior vice president of American Honda, said in a statement. "With customer demand for SUVs continuing to grow, the new adventure-ready Passport is going to further solidify our lineup, attracting new buyers and keeping existing customers in the Honda family."
In the two teaser images that Honda supplied with its Thursday announcement, the new Passport is shown going off-road, so it would be incredibly cool if it were able to compete more closely with the 4Runner in terms of ruggedness.