Last week it was reported that Honda is going to release a shorter-wheelbase version of the Honda Pilot next year and now we have a bit more news to prove it. Honda recently filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office, to trademark the “Honda Passport” name – a name that it hasn’t used since the early 2000s.
If you haven’t brushed up on your Honda history, back in the mid-1990s at the beginning of the SUV craze, Honda didn’t have an SUV in its lineup. To meet the growing demand for SUVs, Honda sold a rebadged a Isuzu Rodeo as the Honda Passport. The Honda Passport preceded the CR-V and managed to last until a few years before the first-generation Pilot arrived.
Now that Honda is looking to expand its SUV lineup beyond the HR-V, CR-V and Pilot, it could be easy to bring back the Passport name for its new five-passenger SUV. The new SUV is expected to bridge the gap between the CR-V and larger Pilot.
Related: Honda to introduce a five-passenger Pilot in 2018
Right now we have no official word on if the Passport name will be used on a future SUV, since Honda hasn’t confirmed anything. Honda also hasn’t officially confirmed that it’s working on a shorter Pilot. Stay tuned.
Source: Car and Driver
