2026 Honda Passport revealed: Mazda CX-70, Jeep Grand Cherokee rival denied entry to Australia
11/14/2024 03:00 PM
The latest version of Honda's five-seat Passport large SUV has debuted – but it won't make the trip to Australia.
Honda has unveiled its latest-generation Passport large SUV – but like the previous model, it has been denied entry to Australia due to its left-hand-drive-only status.
A rival to other five-seat-only models like the Mazda CX-70 and Jeep Grand Cherokee, the 2026 Honda Passport is based on the seven-seat Honda Pilot SUV, which entered its newest generation in 2023.
The Honda Passport was re-launched in North America in 2019 as a shortened five-seat version of the Pilot – after it was sold two decades earlier as a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo, which was offered in Australia as the Holden Frontera.
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Australia received a version of the Passport's larger Honda Pilot twin between 2003 and 2006 when the Canadian-built Honda MDX was offered in right-hand-drive form based on its Acura luxury sibling.
Honda’s current line-up in Australia includes vehicles sourced from its right-hand-drive-friendly Japanese and Thai factories, with the last Honda vehicle made in North America for Australia being the low-volume NSX hybrid sports car discontinued in 2020.
“At this time Honda Australia has no plans to bring the Honda Passport to the Australian market,” said a Honda Australia spokesperson.
In the United States, the Passport will start from around $US45,000 ($AU69,500) – compared to $US40,200 ($AU62,000) for the Pilot – with three variants available at launch, including off-road-focused TrailSport trims.
The Passport TrailSport is said to be “the most off-road capable Honda SUV ever” with off-road-tuned suspension, steel bash plates, heavy-duty recovery hooks, General Grabber all-terrain tyres, and a unique all-wheel-drive system.
Built in the same Alabama factory as the Pilot – and the US-market Odyssey people mover – the Passport is offered with a 213kW/355Nm 3.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol V6 matched with a 10-speed torque-converter automatic transmission and a torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system.
Equipment highlights include a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen with Google Built-In, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster, and ‘body stabilising’ seats to reduce fatigue on longer journeys.
Honda will offer a range of genuine accessories for the Passport, such as different wheel designs, an aluminium bash plate, rock sliders with a stainless-steel plate, and cargo roof platform.
The cargo shelf in the Passport can be turned into a built-in table in a nod to the original CR-V, with seating for four and a “grippy” rubber surface with a Baja topographic map design.
The 2026 Honda Passport will launch in North America next year as a left-hand-drive-only model like the Pilot, making it inaccessible to the Australian market.
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