Getting right into a Honda Passport simply grew to become dearer despite the fact that Honda hasn’t elevated the costs of its mid-size SUV.

Though particular trim costs haven’t risen, the entry-level worth for the five-seat truck has successfully climbed as a result of Honda has opted to drop the front-wheel drive EX-L model.

Making all-wheel drive commonplace means the bottom Passport is now the AWD EX-L, a mannequin that prices $42,395 together with the compulsory $1,295 vacation spot charge. Automobiles Direct notes that transfer ends in shoppers paying $2,700 greater than earlier than to get onto the underside rung of the Passport ladder. That information comes solely a 12 months after Honda deleted the Sport trim, ensuing within the least expensive 2022 Passport costing $5,080 greater than probably the most inexpensive 2021 model of the truck.

By way of measurement, the Passport slots into Honda’s North American vary between the freshly overhauled CR-V and the seven-seat Pilot. However the Pilot, which is scheduled to get its personal makeover subsequent 12 months, is extra inexpensive than the Passport, and begins at just below $40,000, partially as a result of it’s accessible in front-wheel drive type. Automobiles Direct means that the Pilot will push previous the Passport on worth when the brand new automotive arrives in 2023.

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A Honda spokesperson reiterated that it had type for this sort of maneuver, having additionally pulled the front-drive possibility from the Ridgeline pickup truck sequence two years in the past. The Passport and Ridgeline aren’t the one Hondas that grew to become suffered immediate worth rises because of disappearing variants. Honda’s choice to drop the LX trim from the CR-V vary when the brand new 2023 mannequin arrived elevated the small SUV’s entry worth by over $4,300.