Honda is bringing something big to SEMA dubbed the Rugged Open Air Vehicle Concept and I’m low-key excited.
It looks like Honda has something with an open top and rugged for SEMA 2018. As per Honda in an official press release they dropped earlier today (Oct. 25,2018) ahead of the 2018 SEMA Auto Show, they have a potential future production vehicle on their hands if all the stars align and rumors abound happen to be true. Earlier last month I blogged about how Honda’s Alabama Plant just opened up an expansion to their production line, accommodating what’s rumored to be the new Honda Passport, and I think this just might be it.
Here’s what Honda said below,
If Las Vegas is a city where anything goes, then the wild-looking Honda Rugged Open Air Vehicle Concept will fit right in.
On top of that, Honda’s been prototype testing its Honda Passport pre-production model in the hills of Malibu, California, further fueling the rumors that Honda is going to make a big announcement soon in regards to the future of its Passport.
The Drive reports that Honda will probably utilize a similar platform shared by the Pilot, Odyssey, Ridgeline, and Acura MDX and I tend to agree. Honda obviously aims to be continuously profitable and utilizing an already proven platform, tweaking it for another purpose, like the 2020 Honda Passport, makes sense, at least on paper.
As this is a concept, I fully expect to see the shape of what should be the 2020 Honda Passport. What actually makes it to production is a different story and is where we’ll see Honda probably axe the whole “open air” part and replace it with something more production worthy like a really large sunroof.
Or, I could be wrong and Honda will keep the open air concept and make the Honda Passport into something truly fun and unique. After all, it’s not like Honda will be engineering a new platform or sliding in a bespoke engine just for this Passport.
And who knows, this just might be a concept not even related to the Honda Passport, but I’m betting on that it is.
Anyways, if you’re like me and want to see this concept unveiled in real-time, head over to HondaNews.Com at 1:30 P.M. PST on Oct. 30 to see the press release drop. Or, if you’re actually at SEMA, Honda has an unveiling at their booth, so please refer to your SEMA Map.
