New 2018 Honda CR-V India Launch In October; Engine Details Revealed

Agencies Updated at: 09 Aug 2018 12:30 PM (IST)

The fifth-gen CR-V will be launched with the 2.0-litre petrol engine and, for the first time, in a seven-seat configuration with the 1.6-litre diesel

The fifth-gen Honda CR-V is set to be launched in India in October 2018. Honda had showcased this latest-gen CR-V at the Auto Expo 2018 and revealed that it would, for the first time, come to India with a diesel engine in a seven-seat avatar. Now, the carmaker has revealed more details about the new CR-V, which will be locally assembled in India.

No Manual, Only Automatic

Honda already has the 1.6-litre diesel engine for its bigger cars internationally — the CR-V and the Civic. While the 1.6-litre diesel is available in a 160PS tune as well, we’ll get the 120PS version with both AWD and 2WD. The engine will be available with a 9-speed automatic transmission only. The diesel CR-V will be a seven seater.

Apart from the diesel engine, the CR-V will be available with a petrol motor as well but it’s not going to be the 2.4-litre unit or the 1.5-litre turbo petrol. Instead, it will get the 2.0-litre petrol engine, that does duty on the current CR-V as well. The engine will produce 154PS of maximum power and will be available with a CVT automatic only with front-wheel drive. In the outgoing CR-V, this 2.0-litre engine can be had with a 6-speed manual transmission or a 5-speed AT (torque converter). The petrol version of the CR-V will, however, be a five seater only as before.

Features

The only confirmation that we have until now is that the new-gen CR-V won’t get the Honda Sensing package in India, which includes features like adaptive cruise control, low-speed follow, autonomous braking, lane-keep assist and road departure mitigation. What we’ll get instead is a reversing camera and a lane-watch camera. The lane-watch camera will relay footage from a camera mounted under the passenger side outside rearview mirror onto the infotainment screen. It does so automatically when the left-side turn indicator is used. The camera can be switched on otherwise as well, like on the Accord Hybrid.

Expected Price

Since the new CR-V has grown in proportions, has got a diesel engine and is now a seven seater as well, we expect the prices to go up too. The current generation model, which is available with the petrol engine only, starts at Rs 24.4 lakh and goes up to Rs 26.69 lakh for the top-spec version with a 2.4-litre petrol engine. Expect prices of the new-gen CR-V to start from around Rs 27 lakh and go over Rs 30 lakh for the top variant.

Rivals

In the seven-seater diesel version, the new CR-V will compete against the Skoda Kodiaq. Both the SUVs are underpinned by a monocoque chassis and offer the convenience of automatic transmission. The Kodiaq is, however, more powerful as its 2.0-litre diesel engine makes 150PS of maximum power. Also, the Kodiaq is only available with AWD and is priced at Rs 34.84 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

In its petrol avatar, the five-seater 2WD CR-V will go up against the Hyundai Tucson. With the petrol-automatic powertrain, the Tucson is available in two variants priced at Rs 21.3 lakh and Rs 22.55 lakh (both ex-showroom Delhi).