Another new Honda HR-V that is not an HR-V: order in the chaos

To guide you through the HR-V chaos, we jump from hot to here and from country to country. So just sit down for a while. It is indeed true that the current generation HR-V (photos 3 and 4) such as Honda sells in Europe has not been around that long. The model was presented in European guise in April 2021, before that the car with model name Vezel appeared on the market in its home country Japan. The previous generation HR-V was also delivered in the United States, but ‘our’ HR-V will not get a meter of American asphalt under its wheels. Yet in the United States there is a new model called HR-V. However, that is the equivalent of a larger SUV that will also come to Europe in 2023 and will be called the ZR-V here (photos 5 and 6).

The HR-V that Honda markets in the United States becomes the ZR-V . in Europe

But that still doesn’t unravel Honda’s international HR-V policy. We now turn to China where Honda has two partnerships: GAC Honda and Dongfeng Honda. Separately, these joint ventures often sell the same models, but in slightly modified form and with a different name. Dongfeng Honda’s CR-V is the Breeze at GAC Honda, for example, and Dongfeng Honda’s unknown UR-V is known as an Avancier at GAC Honda. This also has consequences for HR-V known to us.

Honda e-NY1 Prototype, a preview of the electric version of the HR-V for Europe.

First of all, Honda introduced two electrical derivatives of ‘our’ HR-V in China, even before it launched versions with conventional powertrains. The fully electric version of GAC Honda will be called e-NP1 (photo 7) and the Dongfeng Honda version e-NS1 (photo 8). We will also receive an electrical derivative of the HR-V in Europe in 2023 and it will be called e:Ny1, but that too is not one of the new HR-Vs that this article is about (photos 9 and 10). No, the newcomers who play the leading role in this article simply have combustion engines.

Fiber and HR-V

The first new HR-V variant is therefore the least surprising. The joint venture GAC Honda is adding a variant of ‘our’ HR-V to its range that will simply be available with combustion engines. That car is not called HR-V, but just like in Japan ‘Vezel’. Outwardly there are no significant differences and the wheelbase (2.61 meters) and the car length (4.38 meters) correspond to the numbers we know from our HR-V. In short: the Chinese Fiber (photos 10 and 11) is the ‘petrol brother’ of the electric e-NP1.

GAC Honda Vezel, but ‘our’ Honda HR-V.

Which brings us to the second new HR-V, a car that – you guessed it – Dongfeng Honda is adding to its portfolio. It is indeed called HR-V, but it differs strongly from all other HR-V variants that are reviewed in this article. That HR-V is secretly not an HR-V at all. Just like the model that Honda sells in the United States as HR-V, the new HR-V from Dongfeng Honda (photos 13 to 16) is secretly its bigger brother. That would mean that the Honda HR-V from Dongfeng Honda is the car that will be marketed in Europe as ZR-V, but that is also not entirely true. The Dongfeng Honda HR-V has a completely individual snout with a much higher grille and headlights that visually merge with it. The bumper work of Donfgeng Honda’s HR-V also differs from the copies on the ZR-V. In addition, the rear of the SUV also looks completely different thanks to the visually connected rear lights and the different bumper section. Matters such as the wheelbase (2.65 meters) and car length (4.57 meters) are otherwise the same as those of the original.

Dongfeng Honda HR-V, secretly not an HR-V but a ZR-V with a different front and rear.

Will GAC Honda miss the boat? Well, GAC Honda will in turn just sell the European ZR-V with the same model name. The latest Honda HR-V is therefore not an HR-V, but the second Chinese version of the ZR-V.

descend deeper

We have bad news for those who can no longer see the ZR-V forest because of the HR-V trees. We have found another floor to explore, although the two Chinese joint ventures will probably soon be chasing a wrecking ball through that floor. There are a couple of HR-V associates on that floor. GAC Honda of course still has the old Vezel (our previous HR-V) that will soon be replaced by the new Vezel. In addition, GAC Honda sells an electric version of that car with a modified front in the form of the Everus VE-1 (photo 17). We aim to clear the field if GAC Honda actually sells the electric e-NP1 in larger numbers.

Honda Ciimo M-NV, an electric previous HR-V. Pay attention to the logos!

Joint venture Dongfeng Honda sells ‘our old HR-V’ in China with its own front and ditto buttocks still as XR-V, so that is the Vezel brother (photos 18 and 19). The XR-V will probably soon make way for the ‘petrol version’ of the new HR-V to be presented by Dongfeng Honda. Dongfeng Honda also has an electric variant based on the previous HR-V. At Dongfeng Honda, it does not have VE-1, but is called X-NV or M-NV depending on the chosen packaging. Here too, the electrical derivatives will probably be completely replaced in the long run by the electric version of the new HR-V, which will be called the e-NS1 at Dongfeng Honda. To make the X-NV and M-NV even more interesting than they already are by nature, we add an extra piece of information. The pair did not have Honda badges, but striking round logos of Dongfeng Honda sub-brand Ciimo where the cars are housed.

We close with another HR-V fact. Initially, it seemed that the previous generation HR-V would be called ‘Vezel’ with us, just like in Japan. Although AutoWeek already speculated at the beginning of 2014 that Vezel might be adapted in ‘HR-V’, this was only officially confirmed at the end of 2014.

We’re confident you’ll be tossing and turning less at night, slamming wildly around you in the nighttime hunt for an answer to the pressing question of where the HR-Vs with combustion engines from Honda’s Chinese joint ventures are. And if the missing second Chinese variant of the ZR-V will ever show up again…