New Honda CR-V and ZR-V SUV concepts are ready to rally
Japanese brand is paving the way for a new line of SUVs inspired by its experience in off-road racing
Honda has announced it’s working on new versions of its SUVs that draw on the company’s years of experience competing in off-road racing, including the iconic Baja 1000 rally. And it has given us a sneak peek of what to expect in the form of four concepts revealed at the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon.
We’re told the new Trail Line production models will incorporate technologies and expertise from the Japanese brand’s motorsport division HRC (Honda Racing Corporation), and feature more aggressive styling.
Honda said: “Trail Line models will be designed to enable customers to feel the ‘joy of driving at the will of the driver’ in a broader range of driving environments.” Basically, if the roads near you are so pockmarked and uneven that a Civic Type R hot hatch is likely to scrape its front splitter, they’ll be ideal territory for the new Trail Line SUVs.
The four HRC Concept models presented in Tokyo, confusingly badged TrailSport, include meaner-looking versions of the Honda CR-V and ZR-V family SUVs – which you can save nearly £3,000 on with the Auto Express Buy A Car service – plus the Vezel and WR-V, which aren’t sold in the UK.
Honda hasn’t disclosed what modifications it made to the standard cars to produce these concepts, but we can see they all now have skid plates built into their front bumpers, black cladding along the sides, new wheels wrapped in all-terrain tyres, a roof rack, graphics and bright red trim like you might see on a Type R product.
Honda has also yet to confirm when the first of the new Trail Line models will be launched, or if it will bring any to the UK. But given Brits’ love of SUVs and 4x4s, we’re hopeful.
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