Two new vehicles that will increase Honda’s presence in the booming US SUV market made their debuts at the New York International Auto Show today.


After showing pre-production examples at Detroit and Los Angeles in January, Honda unveiled the production-ready Pilot in New York. The family-oriented SUV, with eight-passenger seating and claimed to have the largest cargo carrying capacity in its class, goes on sale in June.


Also making its world debut was a pre-production version of the Element, an all-new light truck based on the Model X concept vehicle, which goes on sale by the end of the year, targeted at young buyers “with an athletic lifestyle”, according to Torrance, California-based American Honda Motor Co.


“Pilot and Element are two very different trucks for two very different buyers,” said the company’s executive vice president Tom Elliott. “As American consumers continue to gravitate toward new and different types of light trucks, these two vehicles will play an important role in Honda’s lineup.”


The Pilot has a 240-horsepower, 3.5-litre, VTEC V-6 engine and Honda’s patented VTM-4(TM) (Variable Torque Management 4WD) four-wheel drive system. The interior has two rows of 60/40 split folding seats in the rear and up to 90.3 cubic feet of cargo space behind the front seats with the second and third rows folded.

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The Pilot will be built alongside the MDX and Odyssey at Honda‘s plant in Alliston, Ontario. Prices will range from $US26,000 to $32,000 and sales of about 80,000 vehicles are expected in the first year.


Honda says the Element, with “straightforward” exterior design and multi-functional interior, combines the best features of a pickup truck and a SUV and is “designed to serve as a combination dorm room/base camp for active young buyers”.


“There is a whole new generation of buyers, 71 million strong, entering the automotive market,” Elliott added. “The Element is designed for those who surf, snowboard, mountain bike and just about anything else. Right now they’re trying to adapt to cars, trucks and SUVs, but there is no one vehicle that meets their needs.”


Honda says the Element’s flexible interior can haul four adults and their gear away on road trips or the rear seats fold away to create a large, open interior capable of hauling surf stuff like surfboards, mountain bikes and snowboards. The rugged interior is also easy to clean.


A key Element design feature is the centre opening “swing-wide” doors with no B-pillar for maximum cargo loading flexibility.


Sharing Honda’s global compact platform with the recently-launched redesigned CR-V, the Element has a 2.4-litre, 160-horsepower, i-VTEC, four-cylinder engine and will be available with either front-wheel-drive or Real Time 4WD and the choice of five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission.


Unlike the CR-V, which is built in Japan and England, the Element will be assembled at Honda’s East Liberty (Ohio) plant and goes on sale next December with first year sales estimated at about 50,000 units. Prices will range from $16,000 to $21,000.