2026 Honda WR-V Spotted Testing for Brazil

The next-generation Honda WR-V is coming to the Brazil. Want proof? Check out these spy shots taken by Motor1.com Brazil’s Assistant Editor, Thiago Moreno, while driving along the Bandeirantes Highway, near the capital of São Paulo. The prototype, still heavily camouflaged, reveals a bit of what we can expect from Honda’s new entry-level SUV for the South American market.

Caught at night, the new SUV has the same profile as the Elevate, a small SUV Honda sells in India and some other Asian countries. At the rear, the car has LED lighting, matching some competitors. It’s worth noting the darkness of the night gave us the chance to see the LED headlights, too.

The low light didn’t help visibility into the cabin, but it did highlight a large multimedia screen. It’s not the same unit as the City and HR-V—this one is mounted high on the dashboard, separate from the rest of the center console, and not integrated like the City. From what we can tell, it seems to be the same 10.25″ horizontal screen used by the Indian-market Elevate.

The new WR-V is 14.1 feet long, 5.9 feet wide, and 5.4 feet high, with a wheelbase of 8.7 feet. There’s 16.1 cubic feet of cargo space trunk, and has 8.6 inches of ground clearance. For comparison, the previous car was 13.3 feet long, 5.7 feet high, and 5.3 feet tall, with a wheelbase of 8.4 feet. The trunk, meanwhile, accommodated just 12.8 cubic feet.

When it hits the Brazilian market, the new WR-V will fill the gap that currently exists between the City Hatch and HR-V, reinforcing Honda’s presence in the competitive compact SUV segment. It reflects Volkswagen’s strategy of having two models in the same category (in this case, Nivus and T-Cross).

In India and Japan, the WR-V offers equipment such as a collision mitigation braking system, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, road departure warning, and automatic high beam assist, as well as wireless charging for smartphones. There is, of course, wireless integration for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

With its launch already confirmed by Honda, the future Toyota Yaris Cross rival is expected to hit dealership in the second half of 2025, with all of its production will be concentrated at the Itirapina plant, northwest of São Paulo. The WR-V will be the first model to come out of the R$4.2 billion (approximately $1 billion) investment Honda plans to invest in Brazil from 2024 to 2030. In addition to the WR-V, the money will finance the arrival of a new hybrid flex model, a refreshed HR-V, and an increase in production volume, with consequent job creation.