The 2023 Honda WR-V has just been launched in Malaysia today, and to say that it is a highly anticipated car is probably an understatement, as people have been queueing up to preview the car since last month. Not only that, bookings received for the 2023 Honda WR-V since mid last month up till yesterday has reached a total of 2,500 units. With the sales momentum expected to continue rolling, Honda Malaysia is expecting to sell around 1,300 units of the WR-V each month moving forward.
Out of the 2,500 bookings received up till yesterday, the 1.5 RS has been the most popular, occupying 43% of the total booking, with the 1.5 V, E, and the entry-level S variants following behind contributing 38%, 12%, and 7% of bookings respectively. Naturally, the carmaker continues to expect the 1.5 RS to be the bestselling variant, and to contribute up to 60% of the Honda WR-V’s total sales in Malaysia.
If you’re interested in buying the 2023 Honda WR-V or any new car for that matter, one of your main concerns must be the waiting period between dropping a booking and collecting the car. Regarding this matter, Honda has ensured that customers will only have to wait around two to three months starting today.
Honda is also working hard to solve the chip supply issue that it and other carmakers have been facing. The carmaker is also expecting to normalise its supply by the end of this year.
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With the top-spec 2023 Honda WR-V carrying the “RS” name, just like many modern Honda models launched in Malaysia in the past couple of years, many might be questioning about the possibility of a Hybrid variant in the future. And Honda has responded saying that the idea is currently opened for consideration. Therefore, do not get your hopes up just yet, folks.
The Honda WR-V is a crossover, so naturally, space is one of Honda’s main priorities when developing the car. However, it lacks features like the Ultra seats that have been featured in the Jazz and City Hatchback.
In response to the absence of the Ultra seats, Honda explained that it is for weight management purposes. This is because the structure of the Ultra seat itself takes up quite a bit of weight compared to regular seat designs, and to fulfil safety regulations, adding extra weight to the car is unavoidable.
Another feature that is lacking from the 2023 Honda WR-V is the tonneau cover to, well, cover items placed inside the rear boot. This might be a questionable omission, but Honda mentioned that during initial development phase of the WR-V, it found out that there wasn’t a significant demand for the tonneau cover at the time. However, the company said that it will continue to conduct surveys in its future developments, and will respond to the market when there is significant demand for the tonneau cover.
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