The Toyota Raize has been making quite some moves in Japan. It even overtook the Corolla to be the best-selling car in the Land of the Rising Sun. We can’t wait to see how the little crossover turns out when it comes over to Malaysia as the Perodua D55L.

But the Raize isn’t just stirring up Malaysian hearts and attracting Japanese buyers, it also triggered some executives down at Honda. Unlike Toyota which had been churning out new SUVs and crossovers like the Corolla Cross and Yaris Cross lately, Honda has been pretty quiet.

In need of a rival against the Toyota Raize/Daihatsu Rocky, Honda is expected to launch its own entry to the subcompact crossover segment. According to reports, the brand-new model will slot below the HR-V which is known as the Vezel in Japan.

The subcompact SUV will be built on a newly-developed platform and powered by a 3-cylinder turbocharged 1.0-litre petrol engine which is shared with the Euro-spec Honda Civic and the Thai-spec City Turbo. This clearly shows that it is targeting the Raize/Rocky directly in terms of engine displacement.

It is also speculated that Honda’s Raize/Rocky rival will also come with a hybrid option powered by a 1.5-litre engine Honda's i-MMD technology as the upcoming City RS hybrid.

The model is expected to be launch in May 2021 if everything goes according to plan. So, would you be excited for Honda’s subcompact SUV? What do you think it will be called and would you think this will come into Malaysia?