Honda has confirmed the seventh-generation CR-V will be sold exclusively as a hybrid in the United States, with the 2028 model due to arrive in 2027.

The announcement applies to US models only. Honda Australia has not confirmed local timing or whether the next-generation range will also drop petrol-only variants.

The new CR-V will introduce a new platform, a fifth-generation two-motor Honda hybrid system and a newly developed electric all-wheel-drive unit.

Honda says the hybrid system will improve performance and efficiency by broadening the engine's most efficient operating range and increasing the driving efficiency of the hybrid unit. The company is targeting a fuel-efficiency improvement of more than 10 per cent for its next-generation hybrid model.

The electric AWD unit is designed to provide more precise and responsive motor control. Honda has not announced power outputs, pricing or a specific reveal or on-sale date.

The new platform will use a modular architecture to increase parts commonality, with Honda targeting lower weight and greater body rigidity. Production will continue at three North American plants in Ohio, Indiana and Canada.

What it means for Australia

Four of the six grades in the current Australian CR-V range are already e:HEV hybrids. Petrol-only power remains available in the five-seat VTi X and seven-seat VTi L7.

A hybrid-only CR-V would follow its biggest rival. The sixth-generation Toyota RAV4 launched in Australia as a hybrid only, and Toyota has since added the RAV4 PHEV, its first plug-in hybrid here, priced from $58,840 for the XSE 2WD.

The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) is a big driver of line-up changes like these. It sets a CO2 target for each brand's new-car fleet: 141g/km for passenger vehicles in 2025, dropping to 117g/km in 2026 and 58g/km by 2029. Brands that end up over their target face penalties of $50 for every gram per kilometre over it, on each car sold.

In the first NVES results, Toyota banked the second-largest credit surplus of any brand, largely thanks to its hybrid volume. Petrol-only versions of a high-volume SUV such as the CR-V make those targets harder to meet, though Honda Australia has not said whether the VTi X and VTi L7 will continue into the new generation.

The US move builds on an established hybrid sales base: hybrids account for more than half of CR-V sales there, with annual hybrid sales growing nearly tenfold since their introduction in 2020.

The next-generation CR-V is the first of several new hybrid models Honda plans to launch in North America by 2030.

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