Honda Passport | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Manufacturer | Honda |
Production | |
Model years |
|
Body and chassis | |
Class |
|
Body style | 5-door SUV |
Layout |
|
The Honda Passport is a line of sport utility vehicles (SUV) from the Japanese automaker Honda. Originally, it was a rebadged 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.[5]
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. [6]