The Honda Element may have only been around for one generation, but it picked up quite the fan base along the way thanks to a charming combination of attributes like an adorable design, a capacious and utilitarian interior, and an affordable price. Affection for it runs so deep, its admirers are still raving about it 15 years after its demise; Hacks star Hannah Einbender recently took time out of promoting the final season of the HBO comedy to tell Road & Track how much she loved the Element she had back in high school.
Well, Hannah, we have good news: the Element is reportedly coming back for Round 2. The word comes from the generally reliable folks at Automotive News, citing anonymous sources with "knowledge of the plan" to bring the compact crossover back to life starting in 2029. According to AN, Element Redux will be a hybrid—that's much as most of the Honda lineup is set to be soon—that slots between the HR-V and CR-V in the lineup.
View Price on AmazonIt'll reportedly be built at one of the carmaker's Ohio assembly plants, with Honda supposedly eyeing 100,000 units in the first year as the production goal. Details beyond that are nil, but assuming Honda is indeed resurrecting the badge that it retired in 2011 after an eight-year run, it presumably has aims on reclaiming some of the market that found its cubist style and wide-open cabin so appealing.
The automaker's recent push to make the Passport and Pilot look boxier suggests that the original crossover's squared-off design could well be ported over to the modern day with minimal changes, and the auto industry's push towards overland-friendly features suggest the wash-out interior and foldaway seats are likely to return. That said, whether the original Element's unique door arrangement—involving backwards-opening rear portals and no B-pillar to create a pass-through interior with space for a great-horned owl to fly through—also comes back seems like a bigger question mark.
Source: roadandtrack.com
