Honda's new, upcoming SUV spied in Japan; middle ground between HR-V and CR-V

Spyshots out of Japan shows a as-yet-unnamed Honda SUV in development, and this is widely touted to be the brand's proper answer to the fast-selling Toyota Corolla Cross.

It's also the first, real-world look at the car – which will sit between the CR-V and HR-V – before its scheduled debut reportedly taking place somwhere in between June to September 2022.

The camouflaged sample still leaves plenty to the imagination, and the first look at the front-end is certainly a departure from recent Honda designs, especially in the large front grille.

In previous reports it's also shared that the SUV will lean towards the sporty side of things, and those aspirations are clear: this mule sports a spoiler, and a Lexus-reminiscent exhaust exit.

Also read: Scoop: New Honda Civic-based SUV to slot between HR-V and CR-V out in 2022?

Yes, the grille is rather uncharacteristic for the brand, but the wheel design and headlight signature (both of which look like the Civic FE's) points towards a Honda product.

That, and its face and rump also resembles the render of the North American-spec HR-V too (in fact, even more so than BestCarWeb's earlier render in the cover photo inset), which lends more clues as to how the finished product could look like.

Also read: 'Looks like a BMW': Honda's upcoming Toyota Corolla Cross rival rendered, slots between HR-V & CR-V

Not much can be seen of its interior and feature array, but look closely and you can see the edge of a floating-type infotainment screen, and blind spot information on the side mirror.

The model is rumoured to be sharing a platform with the Honda Civic. Information is still scarce, but some sources have mentioned that it is to receive a 2.0-litre engine, with e:HEV hybrid being obvious options.

In other news, earlier this week we shared a patent photo of the upcoming, all-new 2023 Honda CR-V.

Also read: All-new 2023 Honda CR-V clued in leaked patent image with mature, clean looks