√China could pave the way for Honda Odyssey return to Australia

A new report claims production in China could enable the Honda Odyssey to return to Japanese showrooms. Is Australia next on the list?

The Honda Odyssey people mover could return to Japanese showrooms from a factory in China, according to a new report – paving the way for a possible revival in Australia.

As reported previously, production of the Honda Odyssey for our market came to an end earlier this year after the Sayama, Japan factory it was built in closed in March 2022.

However, the Honda Odyssey remains in production in China.

Now, reports out of Japan claim the Chinese factory could pave the way for its return to Japan and, possibly, Australia.

Japan’s Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun newspaper – via respected Japanese magazine Best Car – reported Honda plans to relaunch the Odyssey in Japan next year, imported from one of its Chinese factories.

Two versions of the people mover are sold in China, each by a different joint-venture with a local manufacturer: the Odyssey by GAC Honda, and the closely-related Elysion by Dongfeng Honda.

If export plans proceed, the Chinese-made Odyssey could represent the first time a Chinese-built Honda model is sold in Japan.

The return of the Honda Odyssey to Japan – if the reports prove to be accurate – does not guarantee Australia will follow suit.

However, the Odyssey was a strong seller for Honda locally – and there is no other similarly-sized people mover in Honda’s global line-up that is built in right-hand drive.

North America has its own version of the Honda Odyssey people mover.

With petrol V6 power and underpinnings derived from the US Honda Pilot large SUV, it is unrelated to the Honda Odyssey sold in Australia, Japan and China – and is not built in right-hand drive.

Drive has contacted Honda Australia for comment on the Japanese reports regarding the China export plans. This story will be updated with the company’s response.

According to Best Car, a “Honda official” told the Japanese outlet: “Production of the Odyssey [in Japan] was discontinued at the end of last year, but is the Odyssey actually coming to an end, and why, given that there are still customers?

“We have been considering whether we could import the Odyssey produced by Guangqi [GAC] Honda Automobile and the Elysion produced by Dongfeng Honda Automobile, both of which are produced in joint ventures in China, and sell them in Japan.

“The Odyssey produced in China has the same platform as the Odyssey produced in Japan, and the overall design is basically the same, but we plan to sell the Odyssey in Japan with right-hand-drive specifications and in accordance with Japanese laws and regulations,” Best Car claims it was told by the well-placed insider.

It remains to be seen if a Chinese-made Odyssey would be cheaper than the Japanese-made model – which was priced from $48,700 to $56,000 drive-away locally – if introduced to Australia.

However, the Chinese-built Odyssey could re-open the door to hybrid power for Australia – which would be a first for the people-mover segment, if the Odyssey is brought to market before the upcoming Kia Carnival Hybrid, due overseas in late 2023.

The Chinese-market Odyssey Hybrid borrows a 2.0-litre petrol engine and electric motors from the Accord Hybrid sedan, for a combined output of 158kW, and claimed fuel economy (in lenient Chinese testing) of 5.9L/100km.

Meanwhile, in its final Japanese-built form, Australia’s Odyssey was powered by a 2.4-litre non-turbo, non-hybrid four-cylinder petrol engine developing 129kW/225Nm, with a fuel economy claim (in less lenient Australian testing) of 8.0L/100km.

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