Today is an informal drive day not far from the downtown city hotel where we are staying. We are among the first of three groups of Malaysian media arriving in three waves who will try out the crossover that will be Honda Malaysia’s first product launch in 2017.
As an entry SUV model, the vehicle is positioned below the HR-V, which was one of Honda’s bestsellers at launch nearly two years ago.
The demand is still there for the HR-V but it’s off its initial highs. Honda Malaysia is banking on the BR-V to bring back the verve and catalyse sales in 2017 amid predictions by research analysts that the auto industry would improve a wee bit moving into the new year
Today was a short drive to a bear-themed cafe in Bangkok so as to avoid the city’s notorious jams. Well, they say all the best laid plans can still go awry. Such was the case here. The convoy was caught in the evening rush-hour traffic on the way back to the hotel.
READ MORE: Honda Malaysia opens BR-V booking
But tomorrow will be a long and proper drive as we will be taking the BR-V for an over 200km round trip run between the Thai capital and Ratchaburi, a scenic provincial town that boasts natural and cultural attractions – the most popular being the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market.
The seven-people carrying capacity of the BR-V is obviously its selling point and Honda Malaysia is confident it would draw buyers with big families and those with big families aspiring to upgrade from lesser brands.
A Honda official said this was borne out at the recent Malaysia Autoshow when it previewed the BR-V, with enquiries coming mainly from people with big families.
While the HR-V is derived from the Jazz platform, the BR-V is based on the versatile A-segment Brio platform that has spawned a hatch, a sedan, an MPV and now an SUV.
During the short drive in city traffic, the BR-V showed itself to be a pleasant vehicle to handle with enough urge from the 1.5-litre engine to pull it along at a brisk pace. The steering is light and the vehicle is manoeuvrable through traffic packed like sardines.
There’s little to complain about the space, and third-row passengers are able to get more legroom by sliding the mid-row seats forward. Third-row passenger comfort has also been considered seriously by the Honda designers with a ceiling mounted air-cond blowers in mid-row to pump cold air to the nether regions. In addition, third-row passengers get two of 7 cupholders in the cabin and side armrests.
The Thai-specced 7-seat BR-V has full leather seats, and a 5-seat BR-V was also included in the convoy. Nope, the 5-seater will not be coming to Malaysia, if you are asking.
Meanwhile, we will save the details of Day 2 for a fuller report soon.
A Honda product launch is always an occasion for fans to get excited about and for observers and rivals to sit up and take notice. The BR-V will have that influence, come next year.
The BR-V is slated for a first quarter launch. It will be locally assembled and its positioning in the Honda lineup will already give you an idea that it’s going to be a sub-RM100K model. Around RM80K-ish, maybe? We will just have to wait and see.
Shades of the Civic tail-light design.
