Is there a long, low, mainstream sport sedan-shaped hole in your heart since the Kia Stinger left us a couple of years ago? Well, Honda has unveiled a pair of grand touring-style four doors at this week’s Shanghai auto show, simply called the GT.
Its full names are the GAC Honda GT and Dongfeng Honda GT and, as you’ve probably gathered, they’ll only be sold in China and are built in collaboration with GAC and Dongfeng, two state-owned Chinese automakers. The GT twins are the newest entry in something called the Ye Series, a line of electric Honda cars sold exclusively in China—no relation to the disgraced rapper of the same name.
Decidedly low and wide (Honda literally uses those exact words in the press release), the GTs are remarkably stylish on the outside, easily standing in for a would-be next-gen Accord that wouldn’t look bad on American roads. But they’re a bit of a techfest on the inside; including the two digital rearview mirrors, there are six screens in total. If you ask us, that’s about three or four too many.
That’s looking at it from a decidedly Western perspective, though. Due to the country’s epic traffic jams, many Chinese consumers see cars as a “third living space,” and therefore have a bigger appetite for vehicles that let them do everything they’d be able to do at their desk at home, on the move. I also have a theory that because the personal automobile is a relatively new thing for many Chinese people, they don’t have the same decades-old notions of what a car interior should and shouldn’t be that most folks in the West do.
In any case, other Honda GT novelties to point out include a slightly ovoid steering wheel with subdued “Honda” text on the horn, but a lot of the same switchgear seen in Honda’s we know here, such as the buttons, switches, and the company’s button-based gear select module. We wish Honda shared more information on the GT’s performance to get a sense if it’ll truly live up to the name, but no specs have been provided quite yet. At least it looks slick.
Got a tip or question for the author about the Honda GT? You can reach him here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com
Chris Tsui is The Drive’s Reviews Editor. He oversees the site’s car reviews operation in addition to pitching in on industry news and writing his own evaluations of the latest rides. He lives in Toronto.
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