A broad range of customers are hoped to be attracted to Honda’s reborn sports car, now a hybrid based on the Civic hatch.
Honda has set targets for its reborn Prelude sports car in its first year that would see it match or outsell the Toyota GR86 and Subaru BRZ.
The Prelude is back in Australian showrooms after a 25-year absence as a 2.0-litre hybrid priced from $65,000 drive-away, close to $10,000 dearer than the five-door Civic hatchback on which it is based.
The price – about $5000 to $10,000 higher than top-of-the-range versions of the GR86, BRZ and Mazda MX-5 – has not dampened the brand’s expectations for the new sports coupe.
“We’re not really setting any specific hardcore numbers,” Honda Australia director Rob Thorp told Drive at the Melbourne motor show reveal of Prelude pricing.
“We're sort of thinking that in the first year, there'll be over 500 orders we'll take, and we should be able to deliver beyond that.
“But we've also been able to gear up to that if demand starts to grow. We've got enough stock and supply to be able to meet the demand.”
If Honda can deliver more 500 Preludes between the arrival of the first shipments next month, and the end of this year, it would be on par with sales of the Subaru BRZ (491) and Toyota GR86 (502) between May and December 2025.
Deliveries of the rear-wheel-drive sports-car twins are down in 2026, though another key rival, the Mazda MX-5, is up 34 per cent so far this year, and reported more than 600 sales in the final seven months of last year.
While the GR86, BRZ and MX-5 are the Prelude’s most natural two-door competition in size and price, its front-wheel-drive layout and hybrid drivetrain mean it is not a direct rival.
“It's funny, when we were looking at the competitive set, it sort of sits a little bit apart and it's very unique,” Thorp said.
“The specs, the packaging is a little bit different. Hybrid technology is a little bit different. So I think the customer base is actually going to come from a very wide spectrum.
“It’s going to [appeal to] I think a lot of Honda loyalists, enthusiasts, people that have owned maybe an old Prelude back in the day. But equally, I could see a lot of people who would maybe [see] the brand from afar diving in and and jumping into one.
“It's a pretty broad audience, I think, it will attract, but we'll wait and see. We'll just start the day. We'll see how we go.”
Honda head office has all but ruled out plans for a Type S or Type R performance variant with 2.0-litre turbocharged power, but Thorp said it would be on Australia’s wish list if the Japanese brand reversed its decision.
“If they change their mind, and they add that to the option list, we'll probably put a hand up for it. Absolutely.”
He said “anything that can add any extra flavour to the vehicle would always be interesting”.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
