6 days ago
12
The latest version of Honda’s five-seat Passport large SUV has debuted – but it won’t make the trip to Australia.
Honda has unveiled its latest-generation Passport large SUV – but like the previous model, it has been denied entry to Australia due to its left-hand-drive-only status.
A rival to other five-seat-only models like the Mazda CX-70 and Jeep Grand Cherokee, the 2026 Honda Passport is based on the seven-seat Honda Pilot SUV, which entered its newest generation in 2023.
The Honda Passport was re-launched in North America in 2019 as a shortened five-seat version of the Pilot – after it was sold two decades earlier as a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo, which was offered in Australia as the Holden Frontera.
Australia received a version of the Passport’s larger Honda Pilot twin between 2003 and 2006 when the Canadian-built Honda MDX was offered in right-hand-drive form based on its Acura luxury sibling.
Honda's current line-up in Australia includes vehicles sourced from its right-hand-drive-friendly Japanese and Thai factories, with the last Honda vehicle made in North America for Australia being the low-volume NSX hybrid sports car discontinued in 2020.
"At this time Honda Australia has no plans to bring the Honda Passport to the Australian market," said a Honda Australia spokesperson.
In the United States, the Passport will start from around $US45,000 ($AU69,500) – compared to $US40,200 ($AU62,000) for the Pilot – with three variants available at launch, including off-road-focused TrailSport trims.
The Passport TrailSport is said to be "the most off-road capable Honda SUV ever" with off-road-tuned suspension, steel bash plates, heavy-duty recovery hooks, General Grabber all-terrain tyres, and a unique all-wheel-drive system.
Built in the same Alabama factory as the Pilot – and the US-market Odyssey people mover – the Passport is offered with a 213kW/355Nm 3.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol V6 matched with a 10-speed torque-converter automatic transmission and a torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system.
Equipment highlights include a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen with Google Built-In, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster, and 'body stabilising' seats to reduce fatigue on longer journeys.
Honda will offer a range of genuine accessories for the Passport, such as different wheel designs, an aluminium bash plate, rock sliders with a stainless-steel plate, and cargo roof platform.
The cargo shelf in the Passport can be turned into a built-in table in a nod to the original CR-V, with seating for four and a "grippy" rubber surface with a Baja topographic map design.
The 2026 Honda Passport will launch in North America next year as a left-hand-drive-only model like the Pilot, making it inaccessible to the Australian market.
Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
