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2023 Honda HR-V Set to Debut on April 4

This small SUV will be the first of three redesigned utility vehicles the company will unveil in 2022.

Craig Cole Former reviews editor
Craig brought 15 years of automotive journalism experience to the Cars team. A lifelong resident of Michigan, he's as happy with a wrench or welding gun in hand as he is in front of the camera or behind a keyboard. When not hosting videos or cranking out features and reviews, he's probably out in the garage working on one of his project cars. He's fully restored a 1936 Ford V8 sedan and then turned to resurrecting another flathead-powered relic, a '51 Ford Crestliner. Craig has been a proud member of the Automotive Press Association (APA) and the Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA).
Craig Cole
2 min read
2023 Honda HR-V Teaser - taillight
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2023 Honda HR-V Teaser - taillight

About the only thing we can glean from this teaser photo released by Honda is that the company's designers have good taste in fonts.

Honda

This year should be a big one for Honda. The highly regarded Japanese automaker is set to release three redesigned utility vehicles in 2022. Yes, three. This SUV onslaught includes the CR-V, Pilot and compact , which on Wednesday the company declared will make its official debut on April 4.

Little is known about the 2023 HR-V, but it will be the first of those three SUVs to be unveiled. A rendering of this upcoming model was released back in January when the "Year of the Honda SUV" was announced, so we should have at least a basic idea of what the new HR-V will look like. In that drawing, the vehicle has smooth lines, a cheerful grille and more substantial headlights, design cues that make it much more attractive than the somewhat robotic model available today. A few Roadshow staffers think this illustration makes the HR-V look a bit like the long-gone Honda CR-Z hybrid hatchback, though there are whiffs of Ford Escape in that face, too.

2023 Honda HR-V - sketch
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2023 Honda HR-V - sketch

This is the HR-V sketch Honda shared back in January. 

Honda

Honda only released one teaser photo of the 2023 HR-V in conjunction with setting the date for the vehicle's debut. All we've got to share is a tightly cropped shot of the rear hatch, which includes a taillight and the HR-V logo. If nothing else, we can tell the vehicle will have nicely styled lamp housings -- and designers picked a lovely sans-serif font for the wordmark.

SUVs are huge sellers and Honda's current crop of utility vehicles is among the best in the business. Still, the current-generation HR-V, CR-V and Pilot are all getting a little bit old right now, so it's smart to redesign them, though it's unusual for an automaker to revamp nearly all its SUV lineup in one year. If any company can pull off this feat without having quality problems or a bunch of recalls, it's Honda.

2019 Honda HR-V remains one of the best subcompact SUVs

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Watch this: 5 things you need to know about the 2019 Honda HR-V Sport