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This Would Be The Most Disappointing New Honda Odyssey Yet

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This new illustration from japan really show what could be the absolute worst-case scenario for the next Honda Odyssey. What we’re looking at is hopefully a design idea for a japanese market only Honda Minivan. And not the next Odyssey fir North America. So there’s still hope for something decent coming over here.

The current generation is now approaching a full decade on the market, which is an eternity in the modern auto industry. Yet for some reason, sales simply refuse to collapse. Honda sold more than 80,000 Odyssey minivans last year, and those numbers were actually up compared to the previous three years. That tells us something very important: apparently, most buyers in this segment simply do not care how old the Odyssey looks. And probably don’t even know how old it is in the first place.They care about comfort, practicality, reliability, and space far more than flashy design trends.

Which means Honda could easily decide that a new front fascia, updated lighting, larger screens, and a few trim tweaks are enough to keep the old van alive for another two or even three years.

I test-drove the current Odyssey a couple of times and came away fairly impressed. It’s roomy, very comfortable, quiet on the highway, and incredibly functional for family duty. The seats are excellent, visibility is great, and Honda still knows how to make a vehicle feel easy to drive despite its size. It remains one of the best road-trip vehicles you can buy.

But it’s also a big lump of a van with terrible gas mileage.

To be fair, that criticism applies to most traditional minivans, except for the hybrid-powered Toyota Sienna. Honda’s naturally aspirated V6 is wonderfully smooth and refined, but it also feels increasingly outdated in 2026. In real-world driving, the Odyssey can feel shockingly thirsty for a modern family vehicle, especially compared to Toyota’s hybrid setup that delivers dramatically better efficiency.

And fuel economy matters more than ever in this segment because these vans accumulate miles very quickly through commuting, school runs, vacations, and endless weekend activities.

The Odyssey is also no longer the most current-looking thing on four wheels, inside or out. While the cabin remains practical and ergonomic, the dashboard design, infotainment system, and overall presentation are beginning to feel old-school next to newer rivals like the Kia Carnival. The Carnival, in particular, has shown that buyers still want minivans. They just prefer them to look and feel more modern, upscale, and SUV-like.

That’s why what Honda really needs is not another facelift, but an all-new generation.

The company already has most of the ingredients ready to go. Honda’s newer hybrid systems are excellent, its latest interiors are vastly improved, and its current design language could translate beautifully to a next-generation Odyssey. Imagine a cleaner, sleeker van with a hybrid powertrain, dramatically improved fuel economy, a modern cabin, and the same practicality that Odyssey buyers already love. It could instantly become the benchmark in the segment again.

Instead, Honda may decide the safer business move is simply to refresh the aging van one more time and continue printing money from a loyal customer base.

At least, if a new Odissey is really on its way, it will be getting Honda’s new V6 Hybrid set up.

Conversation 4 comments

  1. The Pacifica adopts a Kia front end and the Odyssey takes the Chrysler’s front end? Sounds like a van plan to me.

  2. More than anything, Honda should steer clear of the “bumper headlights” that scream GENERIC in its next set of designs. It looks like its already too late for that RDX prototype they showed. But Acura isn’t pulling the big numbers to dealerships that the mainstream Honda products are.

  3. I don’t think Honda would send something so awkward looking over here. I think they know that what might go over well in their home market won’t necessarily do well here.

    I do hope they give the next generation Civic a more interesting makeover. The previous generation was downright sexy (at least for a mainstream compact sedan) and then they went positively bland with the design of the current generation. It seems as though they reserved the sexy design for the resurrected Integra and relegated the Civic to sell solely on its reputation. There’s nothing wrong with providing some killer looks with the more practical/affordable vehicle. The upmarket vehicle should justify its position and pricing with elevated performance, materials, technology, refinement, and dealer experience. Both the mainstream vehicle and the premium vehicle should be designed to instill a sense of pride in the owner.

  4. Whenever I see a Odyssey I notice how much they rust compared to other Honda models.

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