Automobile Desk: The competition in the mid-size SUV segment in the Indian automobile market has become very interesting. Honda Cars India has introduced the new facelift avatar of its popular SUV 'Elevate'. The company has fixed its starting ex-showroom price at Rs 11.80 lakh. This is the first major and important update that this vehicle has received after entering India for the first time in the year 2023. Honda's direct aim with this new model is to challenge the hold of strong competitors like Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos and Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara.
In terms of look and design, the company has worked on making the vehicle more aggressive and premium than before. However, the basic structure and shape of the car has been retained as before. The biggest change in its front profile is seen in the form of a new bold mesh grille, the upper part of which has been given a gloss-black finish. Along with this, the location of the 'H' logo on the front has been slightly changed and new 3-bar signature LED position lights have been added. To give a new feel to the rear look, it has been provided with full-width connected LED tail-lamps, which give the vehicle a wide and muscular look from the rear. Talking about dimensions, its length is 4,312 mm, width is 1,790 mm, height is 1,650 mm, wheelbase is 2,650 mm and ground clearance is 220 mm.
New features are experienced as soon as you step inside the cabin. This time, Honda has made a lot of changes in the interior keeping in mind the convenience of the customers. The new Elevate gets a dual-tone cabin in ivory and black color, which features soft-touch materials, premium leather seats and new dashboard trim. For the first time in this segment, the company has provided the facility of ventilation in the front as well as rear seats. Apart from this, 8-way power adjustable seats have been provided for the driver and 4-way power adjustable seats for the front passenger. Features like orange themed ambient lighting, electrostatic-touch LED cabin lights and one-touch electric sunroof have also been included to enhance the cabin ambiance.
On the technology and safety front, a 360-degree surround vision camera system (with multi-view function) has been added, which is integrated with parking sensors and a multi-angle rear-view camera. The car has a 10.25-inch floating touchscreen infotainment system that supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It comes with a 7-inch TFT digital driver display, front and rear Type-C USB ports, 8-speaker surround sound system and PM2.5 air purifier with auto-clean air function.
Talking about mechanicals, the company has not made any changes in its powertrain. It continues to be powered by the old and reliable 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, mated to 6-speed manual and CVT automatic gearbox options. The CVT variants now also feature an electric parking brake (with Auto Brake Hold) and rear disc brakes.
Honda is making the manual transmission of this vehicle available for sale in 5 variants (SV, V, VX, ZX and ZX+) and the CVT automatic in 4 variants (V, VX, ZX and ZX+). The company is offering a standard warranty of 3 years or unlimited kilometers on this SUV, which customers can choose as an extended package of 7 years or 10 years (1,20,000 kilometers) as per their need.