Honda WR-V manufacturing begins Dec 2022 in Indonesia – exports of latest compact sub-B-SUV to start in 2023

The brand new Honda WR-V, which made its world debut in Indonesia yesterday, will probably be exported in 2023. That is in accordance with Honda Prospect Motor’s gross sales and advertising and marketing director Yusak Billy, who additionally advised Kompas that manufacturing of the compact SUV will begin in December 2022 with an preliminary batch of 1,700 models.

Export locations and quantity will probably be introduced later. Complete manufacturing might be as much as 6,000 models a yr, however that’s relying on the availability of parts, corresponding to semiconductor chips. Is fellow ASEAN right-hand drive market Malaysia in HPM’s export plans? We don’t know but, however Honda Malaysia has a pattern of CKD native meeting for the mainstream fashions that it introduces.

The WR-V is the manufacturing mannequin of the SUV RS Idea that surfaced in Indonesia late final yr. It sits under the B-segment HR-V and is a rival to the Daihatsu Rocky and Toyota Raize, that are after all sisters to our Perodua Ativa.

Though the ultimate design is far subdued in comparison with the SUV RS Idea, the WR-V nonetheless appears fairly funky. The WR-V is 4,060 mm lengthy and 1,780 mm large, which is 5 mm shorter than the Ativa however 70 mm wider. At 1,608 mm tall, the brand new Honda sits 27 mm decrease than the Ativa. The two,485 mm wheelbase is 40 mm shorter than the Ativa’s. If it’s within the Ativa’s ballpark, it’s a lot smaller than the HR-V. Floor clearance is a excessive 220 mm and boot area is 380 litres.

Underneath the hood is a 1.5 litre naturally aspirated engine with 121 PS at 6,600 rpm and 145 Nm of torque at 4,300 rpm. This DOHC i-VTEC Euro 4 unit is after all the trusty NA engine discovered within the Metropolis and entry-level HR-V. Like these fashions, the gearbox is a CVT automated.

Every part else below the pores and skin is as you’d anticipate – entrance MacPherson struts and rear torsion beam for suspension, entrance ventilated disc brakes and rear drum brakes. Two variants can be found in Indonesia – the bottom E rides on 16-inch five-spoke alloys with 215/60 tyres, whereas the RS rolls on 17-inch two-tone alloys with 215/55 rubber.

As for package, the WR-V E comes with distant engine begin, push begin button, a 7.0-inch touchscreen head unit, reverse digital camera with multi-angle view, 4 audio system, digital AC panel, material seats, steering audio buttons, LED foglamps, LED wing mirror alerts, and 4 airbags with VSA. Additionally, inverted L-shaped LED signatures like on the Civic FE.

The sportier RS (it wears a chromed chequered grille like our HR-V RS) provides on LED headlamps with LED daytime operating lights and sequential flip alerts, walk-away auto door lock, a 4.2-inch multi-info show between analogue dials, six audio system, leather-fabric mixture seats, leather-based wrap for the steering and equipment knob, auto aircon, and auto folding wing mirrors.

Honda’s Sensing suite isn’t commonplace for the RS, which brings us to the highest variant, the RS with Sensing. This vary topper provides on ADAS (CMBS, RDM, ACC, LKAS, LCDN, AHB) plus LaneWatch (digital camera for the left wing mirror), six airbags and auto headlamps.

The WR-V is priced at Rp.271.9 juta for the E, which is equal to RM82,395. The RS goes for Rp.289.9 juta (RM87,865), whereas the RS with Sensing tops the WR-V vary at Rp.309.9 juta, which is RM93,939. Including a black roof to the Ignite Purple Metallic RS is an extra Rp.2.5 juta (RM757).

Talking of colors, it’s between Taffeta White (E solely), Meteoroid Grey Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl, Stellar Diamond Pearl (RS solely) and Ignite Purple Metallic (RS solely). As talked about, two-tone is just for the signature pink. What do you consider the brand new Honda WR-V?

For context, our base Honda HR-V S with the identical 1.5L NA engine is priced at RM114,800, whereas the 1.0 litre turbocharged Perodua Ativa is priced from RM62,500 to RM72,600. Will this come to Malaysia? Typically, it’s troublesome for non-national manufacturers to introduce entry-level fashions in our market and be aggressive with nationwide rivals when it comes to specs/value. The window between the highest Ativa AV and base Honda HR-V is RM42k. We’ll see.

GALLERY: Honda WR-V, Indonesia spec