How many examples of the new Honda Elevate have been sold in South Africa since the small crossover’s local launch? We rummaged through the sales stats to find out…
The new Honda Elevate hit the market in South Africa in February 2024, arriving as a replacement of sorts for the WR-V. So, just how popular has this Indian-built small crossover proven with Mzansi’s new-car buyers so far?
Well, we rummaged through the Naamsa-reported sales figures in a bid to find out. According to the statistics at our disposal, Honda Motor Southern Africa sold 238 units of the Elevate over the opening 4 months of the year, which sees it rank 66th on the list of SA’s best-selling passenger vehicles, year to date. The Elevate thus represented approximately 21% of the brand’s total sales in that period.
Interestingly, monthly Elevate registrations have been extremely consistent, with 60 units sold in January (perhaps including demonstrator models), 57 units in February, 61 units in March and 60 units in April. We thus wondered if the local distributor was struggling to lay its hands any more stock than that, but the company confirmed to Cars.co.za it was “not experiencing supply issues”.
Year to date, the Elevate is Honda Motor Southern Africa’s 3rd-best-selling nameplate. The Amaze – a small sedan that was the firm’s most popular nameplate in 2023 – is currently in first position with 289 units, while the BR-V is close behind on 273 units (150 of which were sold via the rental channel in February).
After the Elevate comes the Fit (131 units), followed by the HR-V (79 units), Ballade (49 units), CR-V (39 units), Civic (29 units) and since-discontinued WR-V (4 units). As such, Honda’s year-to-date tally stands at 1 131 units, which puts it 16th on the list of SA’s top-selling automakers.
As a reminder, the local Honda Elevate range comprises 2 derivatives. The line-up kicks off with the Elevate 1.5 Comfort, priced at R371 000 (up slightly from the launch price of R369 900) and fitted with a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard. For those not keen on rowing their own gears, the Japanese firm’s local division also offers the Elevate 1.5 Elegance CVT, which is priced from R430 800 (up marginally from R429 900 at launch).
Measuring 4 312 mm from nose to tail – and with a wheelbase of 2 650 mm – the Elevate is a considerable 313 mm longer than the WR-V. Its naturally aspirated 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder DOHC i-VTEC engine generates 89 kW at 6 600 r/min and 145 Nm at 4 300 rpm.
Revealed in June 2023, the Elevate is based on the Ballade platform and built alongside that sedan (which is also known as the City) in India. Interestingly, it’s the first Indian-built Honda product to be exported to Japan, where it – rather confusingly, we might add – wears the WR-V badge.
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