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The Honda 0 α (alpha) prototype has made its international debut on the Tokyo motor present as we speak, previewing a brand new compact SUV for the upcoming Honda 0 Sequence vary of electrical autos (EVs) that are into account for Australian launch.
Honda’s 0 Sequence of devoted EVs was first previewed on the Client Electronics Present (CES) in Las Vegas in January 2025, within the type of two ideas – a big SUV and a sedan – and when it teased the brand new 0 Sequence prototype earlier this month, Honda described it as a brand new “inexpensive” electrical SUV for its forthcoming EV sub-brand.
Reiterating that as we speak, Honda stated the 0 α prototype, which has a singular roofline and smaller proportions than the big 0 Sequence electrical SUV revealed on the CES, “is being developed as an SUV that can mix superbly with each city and pure environments, supporting individuals’s lives in each state of affairs”.
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It stated the 0 α would be part of the 0 Saloon and the 0 SUV because the “gateway mannequin” within the Honda 0 Sequence vary, and that the manufacturing model of the prototype you see right here is scheduled to go on sale globally, “primarily in Japan and India”, beginning in 2027.
Developed beneath the ‘Skinny, Mild, and Smart’ mantra, Honda says its all-new compact electrical SUV has a spacious cabin that provides “excellent occupant consolation”, wrapped in a glossy exterior design with a low general peak that was “achieved with out compromising floor clearance”.
The prototype presents a extra superior model of the front-end design theme seen on latest EVs just like the Honda e, and it has a boxy rear-end with a thick C/D-pillar therapy that can virtually definitely restrict rear imaginative and prescient.
Additionally seen on the prototype are display areas at each the front- and rear-ends of the car. Up entrance, the full-width digital ‘grille’ incorporates LED headlights linked by a steady LED mild bar, with an illuminated H brand within the center. On the rear, an enormous pink U-shaped LED graphic underlines the Honda wordmark and incorporates the tail-lights, reversing lights and indicators.
No different info has been provided, however all three 0 Seres EVs are sturdy candidates for launch in Australia, the place Honda beat Toyota to releasing its first hybrid car – the Perception hatch again in 2001 – however is but to supply a single EV.
Honda Australia instructed media earlier this yr that it’ll launch its first battery-powered mannequin right here in 2026 – and that it needs the 0 Sequence fashions for native showrooms. When requested by CarExpert which fashions it’s looking for to launch, managing director Rob Thorp stated: “All of them”.
In confirming its first EV in 2026 – alongside a brand new, hybrid-powered Prelude sports activities automotive – Honda Australia didn’t affirm if an 0 Sequence mannequin might be its first EV to look in native showrooms, or whether or not it could be adopted by different EVs from its international lineup.
Globally, Honda has pulled again on its funding in electrical automobiles, slashing its ¥10 trillion (A$105 billion) EV price range by one-third earlier this yr and abandoning its earlier objective of EVs accounting for 30 per cent of its gross sales by 2030.
As an alternative, Honda has switched its focus to hybrid autos, which its Australian division expects to account for 90 per cent of its gross sales as quickly as mid-2026.
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