Bice - Remember what we saw in LA was not the production debut. We are now getting closer and closer. The Canadian and US versions are probably one in the same since they are built at the same plant in Mexico. Hopefully the next presser about the HR-V will show the production version and have prices, mpg and trim level details for us. Think back to the Fit. It was first Pressed at Detroit and then they had the production debut at NY. Similar but they must have more at stake here because there was no Fit website until the model was for sale. The HR-V seems to be a really big deal to Honda and hopefully they get it right!
Hi shu,
I guess I am not sure what a "production debut" is. Did they say it wasn't the production version in LA? Seems someone from Honda or the wide coverage in the press would have called it a "prototype" , "proposal", "concept", or something similar. Plus there is a lot of official footage elsewhere like what we saw in LA. (
http://automobiles.honda.com/hr-v/#news. ) They have had a lot of pre-production models floating around, if that is the case.
Also the Fit was "pressed" later than the HR-V.
I have a couple of guesses of what may be going on. This Detroit/Montreal version is a trim level we have not seen before and could be the EX-L.
Second, and closer to your scenario, they could have heard feedback from people and made changes to fix criticism. Bolstering your scenario is that in all the photos from Honda, trim levels were seldom referenced.
I remember thinking when I first saw the HR-V that I thought there were too many grill patterns. Could others have said the same thing and the main grill was changed to match the lower grill?
It is all mysterious and fascinating to me. I would just love to be a "fly on the all" during these Honda meetings to follow their train of thought.
P.S.....as Dermochelys said on another thread. The different grill could just be the "sport grill" accessory as featured on other Honda's, not an indication of trim level.