Honda Teases Avancier As A Hybrid Wagonlike SUV

Early images show a hybrid wagon-shaped SUV, previewing Honda Hybrid tech while its US role against the Subaru Outback remains uncertain.

Photo by: Honda

By: Brian Potter

Nov 6, at 7:19am ET

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Honda has put the Avancier name back on the table, and this time it is wearing a shape nobody expected to see again. A teaser posted on Honda's Asian social media channels shows a wagon-like SUV silhouette, slim lighting, and a rakish tailgate tied to a new hybrid system.

The name belonged to an Accord-based wagon sold only in Japan from 1999 into the early 2000s. Honda is reviving it for a very different kind of buyer. The teaser does not specify a market yet, but regional reporting points to it going up against other large three-row hybrid SUVs.

What The Teaser Confirms

Honda Avancier Teaser

Photo by: Honda

Honda confirmed one firm detail. The Avancier will run the automaker's new Honda Hybrid system, a name the company is using instead of its familiar e:HEV badge. The teaser also points to a three-row SUV body style rather than a traditional wagon.

Everything past that stays unconfirmed. Honda has not released horsepower, battery size, pricing or a specific on-sale date.

The teaser itself is short on hard specifications. Full details of the new hybrid system are expected sometime this month, Honda says.

The Avancier is not a one-off. Honda has described it as part of a plan to launch 15 next-generation hybrid models equipped with the Honda Hybrid system globally between 2027 and the end of March 2030, backed by a shared hybrid platform rolling out worldwide. That platform reportedly favors lower weight and more rigidity than what Honda currently builds.

Honda has also outlined a newly developed electric all-wheel-drive unit that will pair with that platform in future hybrids. The company has not confirmed whether this specific system will feature in the Avancier, and nothing in the teaser addresses drivetrain details for individual models.

Design And Hybrid Technology

Visually, the teaser uses Honda's next design language: a sharply creased shoulder line, L-shaped taillights, and slim front lighting elements that mark a clean break from the brand's current SUV lineup. Regional materials describe it as previewing Honda's latest design direction.

The hybrid system underneath is the bigger story for US buyers who have watched Honda phase out some of its combustion-only options. A similar shift is already playing out closer to home, where Honda may make the CR-V and Accord hybrid-only in future generations.

What do you think?

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Whether the Avancier reaches the US as an Accord-badged wagon-crossover remains speculation. Honda has reportedly scheduled an Australian launch for 2027, with Thailand floated as a production site for other major markets. The US isn't on any confirmed list yet.

Honda already has history with Accord-based wagons and crossover-hatchbacks, including the Japan-market Avancier and the Crosstour sold in North America from 2009 to 2015. If the Avancier does cross the Pacific, it would likely need that kind of Accord-branded positioning to stand out against established three-row family haulers.