Honda Australia has trimmed the prices of its best-selling CR-V, ZR-V and HR-V SUVs – while increasing the price of its Civic Type R hot hatch – as the brand battles to move its way back up the sales charts.

The Honda CR-V, which is the brand’s most popular model, has only received a price cut for its entry-level VTi X FWD grade, now priced from $43,900 drive-away, down $1000. All other variants of the SUV are unchanged.

Honda’s largest price adjustment has come for the HR-V, its most affordable car in Australia.

The current HR-V, now in runout, is being offered for $34,900 drive-away in Vi X petrol guise (down $1800), while the hybrid E:HEV L is priced from $43,900 drive-away (down $3100). 

An updated version of the HR-V was revealed last month, though Australian arrival timing is yet to be confirmed.

The final Honda to receive a price cut is the ZR-V, which sits between the HR-V and CR-V both in size and price.

An entry-level ZR-V VTi X is now priced from $39,500 drive-away (down $700), and the VTi L is $42,500 drive-away (down $1000).

Despite the price cuts, the three SUVs are no longer offered with a seven-year, unlimited kilometre warranty which was introduced for 2023 model year vehicles in January. This only lasted until the end of March, and the vehicles have since reverted to the brand’s standard five-year coverage.

At the other end of the scale, Honda’s most expensive model on sale in Australia, the Civic Type R, has been hit with a $1000 price increase. It now starts from $73,600 drive-away.

This is despite a major shipment of the hot hatch arriving in February, clearing the brand’s wait lists which extended to more than 20 months at its peak.

Pricing for the Honda Accord – which is due to be replaced by a new-generation model imminently – is unchanged.

Since switching to fixed pricing in mid-2021, Honda has posted its two weakest sales years on record in Australia, dropping from 29,040 vehicles sold in 2020 (the last full year before going non-negotiable) to 14,215 sales in 2022, and 13,734 sales in 2023.

By contrast, the brand sold 25,571 vehicles in Australia in 1997, and achieved its local record of 60,529 sales in 2007.

Honda has recorded an 18.9 per cent increase in sales throughout the first quarter of 2024, reporting 4683 cars as sold in Australia – though the ZR-V had not yet arrived by this time last year.

MORE: Everything Honda CR-VZR-VHR-VCivic





Source link