More cryptic clues with Akio Toyoda, this time with the 2024 Honda CR-V hydrogen FCEV - what's brewing?
Sanjay · Dec 27, 2023 11:17 AM
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This is the upcoming 2024 Honda CR-V hydrogen fuel-cell (FCEV) protoype, and it's been making test rounds in Japan...earning itself some fans in the process. Perhaps none bigger than this one though – the Chairman of Toyota himself.
The video opens with a spokesperson explaining to Akio Toyoda that the car will go on sale in Japan next year (loosely translated), before Toyoda moves on to sign the hood of the car. "I don't think we'll get scolded afterwards!" quipped Toyoda to laughs, and the video ends with him answering "It's a Honda!" when someone asked what car has he just put his signature on.
Much like an earlier 13-second video which had Toyoda give his thumbs up to a Honda Vezel (HR-V for us), there was no further context to this story, or any mention of it later on, neither by Honda nor Toyota. It may be bizzare to some – considering the relative subtlety of the Japanese – so what's brewing?
Akio Toyoda's video message at the Suzuka Circuit's 60th anniversary
Yes, these companies compete for sales in the same segments, but that doesn't mean friendship should be the cost. Toyota (or rather, Toyoda himself) has long paid their adulation to Honda, including once when Toyoda-san relayed reverence for Shoichiro Honda, and the Honda-owned Suzuka Circuit in which he said his love of cars can be traced to.
The Jazz at its unveiling
Rewind the timeline a bit and you'll remember the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show (now known as the Tokyo Mobility Show) in which Toyota displayed 'weird future stuff' instead of the then-all new Yaris; which launched around the same time as the equally-fresh Honda Jazz.
Mind you, it's not to be seen as conceding anything, and the reasons why are better explained in the post linked below;
Back to today's story, the closest reasoning behind this outward display perhaps hints at the companies' further collaboration within the hydrogen space. Most recently in May 2023, Honda and Suzuki joined a group made up of Toyota, Kawasaki, and Yamaha to develop hydrogen powertrains for small mobility solutions; i.e. boats, minivans, and such.
However, from then on, the team has also formed HySE, short for Hydrogen Small Mobility and Engine Technology, and are building 1-litre hydrogen-powered buggy to take on the 2024 Dakar Rally.
Two – or in this case, five – heads are better than one, so this may very well be the start of something very big.
With humble beginnings collecting diecast models and spending hours virtually tuning dream cars on the computer, his love of cars has delightfully transformed into a career. Sanjay enjoys how the same passion for cars transcends boundaries and brings people together.
