All-New Honda N-Box Kei Car Revealed, Targets 15K Units In Japan

Meet the all-new N-Box – Honda's definition for a family car for its domestic market. It's a relatively small vehicle with boxy design and surprisingly roomy interior for up to four passengers. The manufacturer hopes it will sell about 15,000 units of the car monthly.

Just like the previous generation, the new N-Box will be offered in two distinctive series. The standard model has a more conventional design and is positioned as a budget entry. The Custom variant adds several cool features, like LED headlights replacing the projector lamps of the regular N-Box, and a more refined design with more chrome accents and standard LED DLR's integrated into the front bumper.

Though Honda says the car is based on an all-new platform and features newly-developed powertrain, the N-Box comes with a familiar 660cc gasoline motor in naturally-aspirated and turbocharged versions. Specification is not available at the moment, but both of them have been revised and will be paired to a continuously variable transmission, sending power to the front axle or optionally to all four wheels.

The new N-Box will be offered with nine standard exterior colors and four two-tone hues, while the Custom model adds another seven standard colors and five two-tone ones. As for the interior, the regular variant comes in beige as base color to "create a relaxing space as if occupants are spending time at a café," while the N-Box Custom features black as base color to "express a high-quality and fascinating interior space."

Speaking of the interior, Honda says it has cleverly redesigned the cabin by making the engine room more compact and the tailgate thinner, providing more leg room for the passengers. Also, this is the first time the N-Box has a front passenger seat with a forward-backward function.

The car is also Honda's first mini-vehicle to adopt the company's Sensing suite of safety and assist technologies, which for the N-Box includes adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, auto high beam headlights, road departure mitigation system, collision mitigation braking system, and others, all part of the standard equipment.