Half A Honda

AMONG Japanese makes, the Honda brand has long had an enviable reputation for sporty styling and driving. The new Honda HR-V, though, manages to tick only one out of those two boxes. The Honda HR-V is a stylish compact sport-utility vehicle which when it went on sale in the US last month, immediately became the best-selling car in the country.

It was launched here by authorised Honda distributor Kah Motor in mid-April. By then, the Japanese domestic version, called the Honda Vezel, has been available in Singapore from parallel importers for a year, and is already a runaway success. Its current number one status as the most popular parallel import model in 2015 is partly due to the low prices offered by grey importers, and partly because of its attractive styling.

This "sporty" SUV is based on a stretched version of the Jazz platform. It has a dynamic profile with fresh design cues such as camouflaged rear door handles.