Honda has confirmed the next-generation CR-V will be sold exclusively as a hybrid in North America when it arrives in 2027, but Honda Australia has not confirmed when the new model will reach local showrooms, or whether petrol-only grades will disappear here.
The official announcement, issued by Honda in the United States on 12 November, covers the seventh-generation CR-V, which will be sold in North America as a 2028 model. It will debut a new platform, a fifth-generation two-motor system now branded Honda Hybrid rather than e:HEV, and a newly developed electric all-wheel-drive unit. Honda claims the new hybrid will improve fuel efficiency by more than 10 per cent, helped by a next-generation Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder petrol engine.
A Honda Australia spokesperson has said the company “is unable to confirm when we will receive an updated CR-V in market at this time”. Australian CR-V models are sourced from Thailand, while the North American car will continue to be built at plants in Ohio, Indiana and Canada, so a local arrival would typically trail the US launch.
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The current Australian range already leans on hybrids. Honda Australia lists six grades, with estimated drive-away prices from $44,900 to $64,400. Only the five-seat VTi X and the seven-seat VTi L7 remain petrol-only. The e:HEV X, e:HEV L, e:HEV LX AWD and e:HEV RS AWD use Honda’s two-motor hybrid system, and all-wheel drive is reserved for the two highest hybrid grades. There is still no hybrid seven-seater.
VTi X | e:HEV X | e:HEV L | VTi L7 | e:HEV LX AWD | e:HEV RS AWD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Estimated drive-away price | $44,900 | $49,900 | $53,900 | $54,900 | $58,900 | $64,400 |
Powertrain | Petrol | Hybrid | Hybrid | Petrol | Hybrid | Hybrid |
Driven wheels | Front | Front | Front | Front | All-wheel | All-wheel |
Seats | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
Claimed fuel use | 7.1L/100km | 5.5L/100km | 5.5L/100km | 7.3L/100km | 5.7L/100km | 5.7L/100km |
Those estimated drive-away prices are the figures Honda Australia publishes for the current range, and they include registration, compulsory third-party insurance, stamp duty and a dealer delivery charge, based on the buyer’s postcode. A hybrid-only next generation, if Australia followed North America at today’s prices, would lift the entry point from $44,900 to at least the current e:HEV X price of $49,900. That is only a guide, because Honda has not issued Australian pricing or specifications for the new model.
Hybrids already account for more of Honda’s local CR-V sales than they did a year ago. Motoring coverage of the announcement cited 54.7 per cent of CR-V deliveries in the first half of 2026 as hybrids, up from 29.3 per cent in 2025, and 4,830 CR-V sales in Australia so far in 2026, compared with 35,927 for the Toyota RAV4. The CR-V remains Honda’s most popular model here, at about 37 per cent of the brand’s sales, but it is still a long way behind the RAV4 in the medium SUV class. The latest RAV4 arrived in Australia as a hybrid-only range, with a plug-in hybrid later added.
Honda has not said whether the VTi X and VTi L7 will continue into the next generation in Australia. The new North American CR-V is the first of several hybrid models the company plans to launch in that market by 2030, after it scaled back some of its earlier electric-car plans. Buyers here should also keep an eye on Honda’s forthcoming large seven-seat Avancier, which we have already covered in our report on the Honda Avancier’s Australian prospects. Like the current CR-V, that model is expected to be built in Thailand if it is sold here, but its local timing and pricing are also unconfirmed.
Every current Australian CR-V is covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty and five years of roadside assistance, with the first five scheduled services capped at a low fixed price. The next-generation car is due to be revealed early in 2027. Until Honda Australia confirms a local plan, the six-grade range on sale today, including its two petrol models, remains the one buyers can order.