Never as prolific as its larger rival, Toyota, in the North American region, where the competitor has flooded the market with a tidal wave of novelties, Honda is also never far behind its primary foe in terms of sales.
Just look at the roster. The compact Civic – in sedan, Hatchback, Si, and Type R is breathing in the neck of all Corollas, the eleventh-generation Accord mid-size sedan is a thorn in Toyota Camry's best-selling back, and don't even let me get started on the RAV4 versus CR-V feud or we'll be here all day and night long before we run of out arguments.
Interestingly, until recently (and by that, I mean earlier this year), Toyota didn't have a series of weapons against the mid-size crossover siblings – Passport and Pilot – from Honda. The company did rectify that with the introduction of the 2024 Grand Highlander to have them fight each Honda representative, but it certainly took them a while.
Curiously, it feels like Honda is trying to give them a helping hand by shooting itself in the MSRP foot. More precisely, the 2024 Pilot three-row mid-size crossover SUV starts at just $37,090, whereas the 2024 Grand Highlander is no cheaper than $43,070, which is a sizeable difference, indeed. On the other hand, Honda is gifting them the advantage of the $36,620 Highlander when the 2023 Passport starts at no less than $41,100.
That is a bit beyond logic, don't you think? And things are not going to get any easier for Honda and its third-generation Passport mid-size CUV, even if it went rugged with the TrailSport trim not long ago – Toyota is diligently preparing the facelifted Highlander as we speak, for sure. On the other hand, Honda could also take charge and present the customers with an all-new Passport for the 2025 model year – the current generation has been around since late 2018. After that, the facelift arrived for the 2022 model year, and that's also when they introduced the new TrailSport rugged trim.
Meanwhile, in the real world, the 2024 Honda Passport is already live and will soon kick off production in Lincoln, Alabama, so the ship has already set sail for the upcoming model year. No worries, as the imaginative realm of digital car content creators thinks that 2025MY is the charm. For example, the Halo oto channel on YouTube provides fresh automotive info corroborated with their virtual designs; now, there are some CGI ideas about the fourth-generation Passport.
As always, do take all this with a grain of salt because nothing is official just yet. However, we can all expect the next iteration to make a stand alongside the fourth-gen 2024 Pilot in terms of design. As such, if this unofficial project is any indication, the next Passport will be even boxier yet also a lot more stylish. Inside, there are no surprises – Honda likes to keep the latest models clean with the infotainment system's display perched on top of the dashboard and separate controls for climate and additional functions.
As for the options, we expect the TrailSport to soldier on as the go-to adventure option, whereas under the hood, the current 3.5-liter J35Y6 mill hooked to a nine-speed automatic transmission from ZF will be subtly upgraded to the V6 (J35Y8) found inside the current 2024 Pilot. Additionally, there will be a ten-speed automatic transmission for potentially increased mileage ratings. Hopefully, they will soon also consider adding a hybrid so they can fight the Highlander and Grand Highlander Hybrids more easily.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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