NZ looks like being a priority market. for this reborn sports coupe.

KIWIS could be among the first right hand drive export market customers for the new generation of a famous Honda sports car.

The Prelude is being reintroduced internationally by Honda rom later this year, continuing as a two-door coupe but reinvigorating as a hybrid car with an intriguing transmission.

Honda New Zealand managing director Nobuya Sonoda confirmed today intent is to have the car on sale here in 2026.

“Let’s say arrival will be late next year,” he said at conclusion of a launch event for a DNA-related car, the new Civic hatchback hybrid.

That five-door five seater shares the same drivetrain and platform coming to Prelude, but stops short of offering the performance edition’s special features.

No detail has been shared about the likely performance or power and torque potentials from what will be the sixth generation of this model, which in production form - seen in white - is very close to the concept car, in orange, Honda showed off last year.

Honda's e:HEV hybrid models don't have a traditional gearbox, instead powering the wheels via a direct-drive system that has CVT-like gearing.

It’s only known Prelude will use a development pairing a 2.0-litre petrol engine with two electric motors, one to act as a generator, and one which helps to power the front axle.

That powertrain is very likely a development of one already in the CR-V sports utility and the Civic petrol-electric.

These have a 2.0-litre non-turbo four-cylinder petrol engine, two electric motors fed by a 1.06kWh battery pack, transferring through a simulated CVT. Maximum power and torque are respectively 135kW and 315Nm in the Civic, 335Nm in the CR-V.

All are CVT models, but Honda the Prelude’s transmission is designed to deliver quick gearchanges.

What’s called the Honda S Plus Shift sets out to mimic the sound and feel of a responsive multi-ratio automatic transmission.

Honda promises S Plus Shift will “enhance the driving experience”, “deliver maximum levels of driver engagement” and also says the shifts are “coordinated with active sound control.”

Honda says the S Plus Shift name is inspired by older models including the S600, S2000 and Type S, representing the “joy of driving”.

Prelude originally launched in its first generation some 46 years, ago, but the last one went out of production at the end of 2001. So it will be a full 24 years later that the new one finally goes on sale.

Honda has signalled that North America is the first export destination for Prelude, with delivery starting late this year, and then Europe is to be served next, from early 2026.

Honda is celebrating 2025 as its 25th year of hybrid innovation.

Its first mass-produced hybrid, the Insight, came out in December of 1999 and was briefly sold in NZ.