Getting right into a Honda Passport simply turned costlier despite the fact that Honda hasn’t elevated the costs of its mid-size SUV.
Though particular trim costs haven’t risen, the entry-level value for the five-seat truck has successfully climbed as a result of Honda has opted to drop the front-wheel drive EX-L model.
Making all-wheel drive customary means the bottom Passport is now the AWD EX-L, a mannequin that prices $42,395 together with the compulsory $1,295 vacation spot payment. Vehicles Direct notes that transfer leads to shoppers paying $2,700 greater than earlier than to get onto the underside rung of the Passport ladder. That information comes solely a yr after Honda deleted the Sport trim, ensuing within the most cost-effective 2022 Passport costing $5,080 greater than probably the most inexpensive 2021 model of the truck.
By way of dimension, the Passport slots into Honda’s North American vary between the freshly overhauled CR-V and the seven-seat Pilot. However the Pilot, which is scheduled to get its personal makeover subsequent yr, is extra inexpensive than the Passport, and begins at just below $40,000, partly as a result of it’s accessible in front-wheel drive kind. Vehicles Direct means that the Pilot will push previous the Passport on value when the brand new automotive arrives in 2023.
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A Honda spokesperson reiterated that it had kind for this sort of maneuver, having additionally pulled the front-drive possibility from the Ridgeline pickup truck collection two years in the past. The Passport and Ridgeline aren’t the one Hondas that turned suffered instantaneous value rises because of disappearing variants. Honda’s choice to drop the LX trim from the CR-V vary when the brand new 2023 mannequin arrived elevated the small SUV’s entry value by over $4,300.