Honda’s sport hybrid soon to hit PH shores

Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) announced that its CR-Z “sport hybrid coupé” would soon be available for retail in the Philippines.

HCPI president and general manager Tatsuya Natsume said in a statement that the company has been receiving a lot of inquiries about its hybrid car concept since last year.

The Japanese manufacturer’s automobile business unit in the Philippines presented the Honda CR-Z Mugen concept during the 4th Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) at the World Trade Center Metro Manila last year.

During the event, it was the CR-Z that drew crowd to the Honda booth, Natsume said.

“At the time of the show, we received a number of inquiries about selling it in the Philippines. Even after that, we are still getting inquiries online, at our dealer showrooms, and various display events. This scenario gives us the confidence that the Philippine market will warmly welcome the all new CR-Z when it arrives in August, exactly a year after its concept was shown,” Natsume said.

CR-Z stands for “compact renaissance zero,” which represents Honda’s commitment to go back to the point of origin (zero) to take on the challenge to create a new compact car without being bound by the values of traditional coupés.

In designing the CR-Z, Honda engineers decided to fuse two ideas: sport and ecology.

HCPI said the All New CR-Z uses a 1.5-liter i-VTEC engine as the main source of power. It also uses an electric motor—Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist. The efficient combination of these two enables drivers to have responsive driving experience and exceptional fuel efficiency.

The car has a “three-mode drive system” that allows drivers to freely shift to sport, normal or economy modes for different driving styles or driving situations. The system applies integrated control over the engine’s “drive by wire” control, motor assist, CVT shift control and air conditioner.

The CR-Z also has the plus-sport system or S+ Button option that allows drivers to have more responsive acceleration.

The CR-Z will come in manual transmission and continuously variable transmission (CVT with paddle shifters) options. It will also be available in 3 variants—Standard, Modulo, and Mugen).

The CR-Z will be retailed at various price points ranging from standard (manual transmission) at P1.4 million to Mugen (CVT with paddle shifters) at P2.1 million.

Honda officials said interested customers could make reservations for the CR-Z in any of  the 28 authorized Honda dealerships nationwide starting on April 26.

Actual deliveries will commence in August 2013.