Honda prepares to launch 10-seater CRV

As Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) prepares to launch its new 10-seater CRV in the country, both the riding public and the Board of Investments (BOI) are wondering if HCPI will ease up on its no-taxi policy especially since the new CRV has been able to get tax exemption as an Asian utility vehicle.

The BOI had agreed to classify the new CRV model as an AUV because it has been reconfigured to accommodate 10 passengers.

To be classified as an AUV, the vehicle should primarily be a 10-seater and a multi-purpose vehicle for the transport of persons as well as goods and cargoes.

An AUV has seats that can be folded up to create a large rear cargo floor. The rear seats have a seating capacity of four people and can be accessed by a rear door.

The current selling price of AUVs ranges from P453,000 for the basic model to P838,000 for the fully-dressed model.

HCPI is pricing the new CRV model at P875,000 for the manual transmission and at P925,000 for the automatic transmission.

The exemption of the AUV from the excise tax is meant to underscore its affordability to the middle class and its viability as a public or commercial transport vehicle.

As an AUV, the new Honda CRV is supposed to compete against the Toyota Revo, the Isuzu Hi-Lander, the Mitsubishi Adventure, the Bayancab, Anfra, Jeepney, Mazda, Supercab, Multicab, Bida and Nissan AD-Max.

HCPI sources said that they still "discourage the use of any Honda vehicle as a public transport" although they do not prohibit it.

The old CRV model was classified as an SUV and could carry only five passengers. It is currently priced at over P1 million.

An SUV is defined by the Land Transportation Office as "any imported CBU, SKD, CKD vehicle, model 1991 or later with imported machine-cast body shell, specially designed to transport persons and used primarily for the carriage of freight, merchandise or cargo and having characteristics, features and amenities similar to those of a car or automobile."