- Next-gen Honda CR-V is to be powered exclusively by new twin-motor hybrid system.
- Hybrids account for more than half of Honda’s current CR-V sales.
- New CR-V will continue to be made in North America.
Honda has offered the CR-V with a hybrid powertrain option for several years now, but the popular compact SUV has always had a gas option. That will no longer be the case with the next-generation CR-V, which will go hybrid-only for the 2028 model year.
The seventh-generation CR-V debuts for the 2028 model year and will arrive powered exclusively by Honda’s new twin-motor hybrid system, the automaker announced Thursday. Honda backed away from its most aggressive electrification plans in favor of a hybrid-oriented product roadmap, and the new CR-V is the first of many new models it plans to release in North America by 2030.
Honda says its fifth-generation dual-motor hybrid system improves on its predecessor with greater efficiency and a new electric all-wheel-drive (AWD) system. The system pairs with a new platform for the CR-V, which Honda said increases rigidity and boosts the “joy of driving.”
More than 7.5 million CR-V SUVs have been sold in the U.S. since it arrived nearly three decades ago, and the model has been Honda’s best-selling vehicle every year since 2017. Honda says it “is on pace for another annual sales record, surpassing 400,000 units for the third straight year.”
Hybrids Already Highly Popular
Hybrids account for more than half of the CR-V’s current sales mix, and Honda is confident the next-generation model will continue down that path. Honda’s AVP of national auto sales, Luis Guerra, said, “With a 100% hybrid powertrain, the next-generation Honda CR-V will further expand the appeal of America’s most popular SUV as demand for hybrid-electric vehicles reaches record levels.”
It’s still early times for the seventh-gen CR-V, so we don’t have many details yet, but Honda did note that the new hybrid system will be built at its transmission plant in Ohio. The automaker is renovating the factory to accommodate its hybrid push, noting that it plans to increase production capacity by 250% over the next few years. Vehicle production will continue at plants in Canada, Indiana, and Ohio, Honda said.
Going hybrid only for its best-selling model is a move Toyota has already made with the 2026 RAV4. Jeep also went hybrid-only with its 2026 Cherokee.
The CR-V’s new hybrid powertrain comes ahead of Honda’s already-announced hybrid V6, which is expected to power larger vehicles, including the Pilot, Ridgeline, and Odyssey.
