Honda's small sport-ute will come to U.S. next year

First came the Kia Sportage, then Toyota's RAV4, so Honda is Americanizing its CR-V small sport/utility for introduction in the U.S. by early 1997. The CR-V will be built to U.S. safety and emission specifications with a 2L, 4-cyl. engine and full-time 4-wheeldrive. Its overall length (1 76.4 ins. or 4,480 mm.) is about the same as the Honda Passport, but it will have considerably less cargo volume, 27.5 cu. ft. (0.78 cu. m) vs. 35 cu. ft. (1 cu. m) on Passport. Currently there is a five-month backlog of orders in Japan for the CR-V