Honda Cars PH Drops Mobilio From Local Lineup

The Honda Mobilio is an excellent MPV. We even brought one to the mountains of Sagada, Mountain Province a few years ago with a full load of passengers. It performed flawlessly. Good things must come to an end though.

Honda Cars Philippines has officially dropped the Mobilio, its lone MPV offering (if you consider the BR-V an SUV) from its local lineup. This comes just a few months after the Jazz was dropped from the lineup in favor of the new City Hatchback.

The move was not formally announced by HCPI unlike when sales of the Jazz was discontinued. Instead, it was noticed that the Mobilio simply disappeared from the official Honda Cars Philippines website.

According to various reports from other motoring media, when asked for a statement, Honda Cars Philippines is mainly considering the changes in market demand. By focusing on other growing segments, HCPI will be able to cater better to customer needs.

The sales discontinuation of the Mobilio does not come as a surprise, however. Ever since the BR-V, based on the Mobilio but marketed as an SUV, was introduced in the country for the 2017 model year, it enjoyed more than double the sales of the Mobilio which decreased every single year after. For reference, in 2020, the Mobilio only sold 169 units in total, a huge difference of around 169%. This can also be compared to the sales of one of its competitors, the Mitsubishi Xpander which sold a total of 10,443 units last year. 

The Honda Mobilio was first introduced in the Philippines in 2015, with a major refresh in 2018 that gave it a new front fascia and new interior, modernizing and putting it in line with the rest of Honda’s lineup. 

The Mobilio is also notably one of, if not the most powerful model in the segment with its 1.5 L i-VTEC engine from the Honda City that produces 118 hp and 145 Nm of torque, paired to a CVT. Most of its competitors produce less than 105 hp and all get 4-speed automatic transmissions. 

There is no news as to whether Honda will still produce or introduce a second generation for the Mobilio. Just last month, the company showed off a new concept which could be for the next generation BR-V. For now, we’ll have to wait.