Honda Australia teases Avancier three-row hybrid SUV for Australia

Honda Australia has teased the Avancier, a new large three-row SUV that will finally give the brand a rival to the Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento and Toyota Kluger. The company published a press release and confirmed on social media that the model is "coming soon", though it has not yet announced a launch date, pricing or full specifications.

The Avancier would be Honda Australia's first large three-row SUV since the Acura MDX was discontinued locally in 2007. Since then, the only seven-seat Honda SUV offered in Australia has been the mid-size CR-V.

What the teaser shows

A teaser video released by Honda Australia shows crisp styling with a sharply creased shoulder line, simple L-shaped tail-lights and slim lighting elements up front. Honda says the model marks "a new chapter for the brand... pointing to its future direction for design and innovation".

The video also confirms the Avancier will use Honda's new hybrid system. That system is expected to continue with two electric motors, as in existing e:HEV hybrids, and will sit on a new platform developed with an emphasis on weight reduction and rigidity that supports a new electric all-wheel drive system.

Hybrid rollout and production timing

The Avancier will be one of 15 next-generation hybrid models due on sale globally between 2027 and the end of March 2030. Production is expected to begin in Thailand in early 2027, according to a June report from Filipino website Autoindustriya, while Japanese outlet Creative Trend reports the SUV will also be launched in Japan by the end of March 2027, where it has already been spied testing.

Those timing details come from overseas reports rather than a formal Honda Australia announcement, so they remain unconfirmed for the Australian market. Honda Australia's current lineup includes only the Accord and CR-V sourced from Thailand, so a Thai-built Avancier would fit its existing supply chain.

Why Honda has lacked a large SUV

Honda Australia has been shut out of the large SUV segment for decades. The US-built Pilot has only ever been produced in left-hand drive, while the MDX from Honda's premium Acura brand was only made in right-hand drive for its first generation, which was sold in Australia from 2003 to 2007.

The Avancier name has been used before. The current Avancier is a petrol-only, Chinese-market model produced by the GAC Honda joint venture since 2016, with a lightly restyled version produced by Dongfeng Honda under the UR-V nameplate. The name was initially used from 1999 to 2003 on a Japanese-exclusive mid-size wagon related to the Accord.

What's still unknown for Australia

Honda Australia has not announced when the Avancier will go on sale locally, beyond saying it is "coming soon". It has also not announced Australian pricing, variant details or final specifications.

The gap matters because the large three-row SUV segment is currently served by the Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento and Toyota Kluger, and Honda has had no direct answer to any of them. A hybrid-only Avancier would also arrive as Australian buyers are being pushed toward electrified family SUVs, though Honda has not confirmed whether the local model will be hybrid exclusively.

A Chevrolet dealership in Arkansas is asking $400,000 over sticker for a Corvette ZR1X, pushing a car with a $296,445 MSRP to $696,445. George Nunnally Chevrolet describes the surcharge on the window sticker as an "Exclusive Market Value Adjustment", framed as a "Tier-1 Production Allocation, Extreme Exclusivity, and Hypercar Demand Premium".

The listing drew attention after images of the bright Red Mist Metallic car were shared on social media, with the markup rather than the car itself becoming the talking point. The ZR1X is Chevrolet's flagship mid-engined, V8-powered, all-wheel drive Corvette, and it starts at $212,195 in base form.

What the extra $400,000 buys, and what it does not

The car in question is a Convertible with the 3LZ package and a Jet Black interior, carrying an MSRP of $296,445 before the adjustment. The dealer's sticker argues that the ZR1X is built in "strictly limited production quantities from Bowling Green Assembly" and that market adjustments reflect "authentic real-time secondary and primary market demand".

Demand for the flagship Corvette is genuinely strong, and ZR1Xs have been changing hands for well above list in recent months. The catch is that the ZR1X is not a special edition, and Chevrolet is not strictly limiting its production, so the sticker's language oversells how scarce the car actually is.

At $696,445, the Corvette moves into territory occupied by established Italian supercars in the US. The Lamborghini Revuelto is priced from a little over $600,000, and the Ferrari 849 Testarossa starts at approximately $565,000. The ZR1X offers comparable performance to both, but a Corvette does not carry the same cachet as either Italian badge.

A flagship with a successor still to come

Buyers weighing a ZR1X have another reason to think carefully: there is no guarantee it stays the C8 flagship until the new C9 generation arrives. Last year, Corvette chief engineer Tony Roma said the ZR1X "is not the end of the story", which has prompted speculation that a model could be positioned above it.

One possibility raised is a future Corvette using the new 6.7-litre V8 paired with the same twin-turbo and hybrid all-wheel drive setup as the existing ZR1X. That remains speculation rather than a confirmed product plan.

The ZR1X is not currently listed on George Nunnally Chevrolet's website, for reasons that have not been explained. For anyone genuinely shopping for one, that makes a phone call to the dealership the practical first step before treating the $696,445 figure as the final word.