HondaAustralia expects to sell only 500 copies of the new one Prelude this year, although there is currently a lot of interest in the all-new hybrid coupe.
Ahead of last weekend’s Melbourne Motor Show, around 4,000 expressions of interest were received for the reborn Honda Prelude, with many excited customers also paying deposits ahead of the launch of the highly anticipated model.
Stock of the sixth-generation Prelude has been available at local dealers since this week, with first deliveries starting soon.
“We are really pleased with the progress and the response from our frontline staff and customers is that they are already falling in love with the car again,” said Nick Parkington, General Manager Automotive at Honda Australia Daily Sparkz.
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“We had some who deposited straight away without going through the test drive process.
“We obviously want to make sure that the supply meets our demand and that we have enough for our original interests.”
“We expect we’ll probably be at around 500 or something close to that this year. We have a supply for that, and we can always get more if demand goes the way we hope.”
Direct competitors for the first new Prelude in 25 years are few and far between, but Honda’s sales forecasts for 2026 would ensure the new coupe sells better Nissan Z (158 deliveries in 2025) with a clear lead.
Still, the Ford Mustang (4052 deliveries) and BMW 2 Series (1175) remain the preferred options for Australian buyers looking for a stylish, sporty two-door coupe. The cheaper models Toyota GR86, Subaru BRZ and Mazda MX-5 are also sold in larger quantities.
The Mk6 Prelude will be available in a single trim priced at $65,000 – less than a base Mustang EcoBoost or Z. Honda believes this entry point has only helped increase excitement… and increase orders.
“The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” Mr Parkington said.
“We were at the motor show for the entire three days. We must have spoken to over 1,000 attendees or attendees, and every single one I spoke to was really happy with the price we were bringing it to market at.”
“If we talk about the return of the dream, it is an accessible car. It has some unique features. We are very excited to bring it to market.”
These unique features include the aforementioned hybrid powertrain, which was adopted from the Civic station wagon and the CR-V midsize SUV. In total, this results in a system output of 147 kW and a torque of 315 Nm, which is only transmitted to the front wheels.
There is no mechanical transmission in the Prelude. Instead, Honda has included what it calls the S+ Shift transmission, which emulates an eight-speed automatic transmission by offering the same “sharp shift feel” you’d experience with a traditional automatic transmission.
The Prelude is based on the same platform as the standard Civic, while the chassis components are borrowed from the Civic Type R hot hatch.
MORE: Explore the Honda Prelude showroom
