Honda Passport

This article is about the SUV. For the motorcycle, see Honda Super Cub.
Honda Passport
2022 Honda Passport Elite AWD
Overview
ManufacturerHonda
Production
  • 1993–2002
  • 2018[1][2]–present
Model years
  • 1994–2002
  • 2019–present
Body and chassis
Class
Body style5-door SUV
Layout

The Honda Passport is a line of sport utility vehicles (SUV) from the Japanese automaker Honda. Originally, it was a badge engineered version of the Isuzu Rodeo, a mid-size SUV sold between 1993 and 2002. It was introduced in 1993 for the 1994 model year as Honda's first entry into the growing SUV market of the 1990s in the United States. The first and second generation Passport was manufactured by Subaru Isuzu Automotive in Lafayette, Indiana. Like various other Honda models, it re-used a name from their motorcycle division, the Honda C75 Passport. The other two name candidates were Elsinore and Odyssey, the latter would be re-used a year later on a minivan.[4]

The Passport was a part of a partnership between Isuzu and Honda in the 1990s, which saw an exchange of passenger vehicles from Honda to Isuzu, such as the Isuzu Oasis, and trucks from Isuzu to Honda, such as the Passport and Acura SLX. This arrangement was convenient for both companies, as Isuzu discontinued passenger car production in 1993 after a corporate restructuring, and Honda was in desperate need of an SUV, a segment that was growing in popularity in North America as well as Japan during the 1990s. The partnership ended in 2002 with the discontinuation of the Passport in favor of the Honda-engineered Pilot.

In November 2018, Honda announced that the Passport nameplate would return as a two-row mid-size crossover SUV slotted between the CR-V and Pilot. The third-generation Passport was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 27, 2018. It is built at Honda's factory in Lincoln, Alabama, and available for the 2019 model year. On July 16, 2024 Honda posted teaser images of the 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport and said it would release sometime in Early 2025. [5]

  1. ^ "Honda Begins Production Of 2019 Passport In Alabama". 7 December 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  2. ^ "2019 Honda Passport Enters Production - Motor Trend". Archived from the original on 2018-12-08. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  3. ^ Capparella, Joey (15 November 2018). "Honda Is Bringing Back the Passport Name for Its New Mid-Size SUV". Car and Driver. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  4. ^ Lynch, Steve (2014-10-16). "How The Honda Passport Got Its Name". The Truth About Cars. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  5. ^ Lingeman, Jake. "2019 HONDA PASSPORT HEADING TO LA TO SLOT BETWEEN CR-V AND PILOT". Autoweek. Retrieved 2018-11-16.