It is official that Honda will call its new SUV for India, Elevate and as mentioned before, the segment that it will enter is a very competitive one. Hence, it is important as to how the competition pans out for the new upcoming Honda. Unlike the sedan space, here competition is a lot more while size wise, the Elevate will rival the Creta and Seltos along with the Grand Vitara with an expected length of 4.3m.
That makes it fall into the same size bracket as the other compact SUVs. Like the Grand Vitara, it will have a boxy SUV like look with a raised roofline but the front-end would be similar to some global Honda SUVs.
It will come with most probably 17inch wheels which is the segment norm while other SUVs do come with 18inch ones for the special edition variants. While the Creta and Seltos have their own aggressive styling the segment also includes the Toyota Hyryder/Skoda Kushaq and the Volkswagen Taigun along with the above mentioned Grand Vitara.
Inside too, the Elevate will have to match up to strong rivals with high equipment lists. The Creta and Grand Vitara plus even the MG Astor come with a panoramic sunroof while the Kushaq/Taigun and Seltos come with a standard one. It is not clear if the Elevate will get a panoramic or standard one. Other features that competitors have include cooled seats, electric handbrake, digital cluster and touch controls while the Grand Vitara/Hyryder also get a 360 degree camera along with a head up display.
Powered seats are also there. We expect the Elevate to get some of these features including a 360 degree camera. In terms of wheelbase, the Elevate will be 5-seater like its rivals but being based on the City platform will mean that it will be spacious.
Powertrains is where the compact SUV segment battle heats up. Diesel is something only two cars offer with the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos while the majority offers turbo petrols. The Creta, Seltos, ASTOR Taigun and Kushaq offer turbo petrols while the Grand Vitara and the Hyryder offer a mild hybrid and a strong hybrid.
Honda already has a strong hybrid with the City and the logical choice would be that powertrain but at launch the Elevate will most probably come with a 1.5l petrol. The hybrid would most probably be saved for later.
ADAS is something that the MG Astor has which the Elevate could also get with the City recently getting a car. With competition being so tough, the Honda Elevate will not have it easy but the Honda brand along with the fresh design will bring volumes since it is a segment with high growth potential.
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