What Is It?
Honda ASM Concept
What's Special About It?
At the Tokyo show, Honda unveiled a new Odyssey minivan for the Japanese market. With just a four-cylinder engine and a pair of forward-hinged rear doors, though, this van is said to have little in common with the eventual successor to the current-generation Odyssey in the U.S. market. However, alongside this Japanese production vehicle, the company displayed the ASM, a concept vehicle that bears more than a passing resemblance to the American Odyssey.
Although the ASM's tall, boxy shape and dual-sliding rear doors immediately identify it as a family vehicle, Honda wanted it to have an elegant look, and designers apparently drew inspiration from ocean liners. Blacked-out glass and cat eye-shaped headlights help out here. Incidentally, when the headlights are turned on, each "eye" is lined in green light, highlighting the 18 or 20 white lights within that are set to look like diamonds — the effect is not unlike looking at a piece of jewelry.
More important than how it looks is the drivetrain the ASM is said to use — a V6 engine with Variable Cylinder Management (allowing the van to run on fewer cylinders to conserve fuel, as in the Civic Hybrid) paired with an electric motor. This is, of course, a description of a gas/electric hybrid minivan, and as Toyota is readying a hybrid version of the V6-powered Lexus RX 330 to go along with the Prius, it makes sense that Honda would be thinking along similar lines.
Inside, the ASM is said to be able to seat up to eight passengers (though the display model and press photos show it in six-passenger form). The decor is decidedly luxurious with wood trim lining the dash, door panels and steering wheel, and leather-upholstered seats. A sliding 10-inch rear-seat monitor ensures that all of the hypothetical rear passengers would have a choice view of whatever DVD is playing on the entertainment system.
Why Should You Care?
The ASM appears to offer a few hints of what you can expect from the next U.S. market Odyssey when it arrives for the 2005 model year. A gas/electric hybrid drivetrain and a more upscale interior are strong possibilities. — Erin Riches
Honda ASM Concept
What's Special About It?
At the Tokyo show, Honda unveiled a new Odyssey minivan for the Japanese market. With just a four-cylinder engine and a pair of forward-hinged rear doors, though, this van is said to have little in common with the eventual successor to the current-generation Odyssey in the U.S. market. However, alongside this Japanese production vehicle, the company displayed the ASM, a concept vehicle that bears more than a passing resemblance to the American Odyssey.
Although the ASM's tall, boxy shape and dual-sliding rear doors immediately identify it as a family vehicle, Honda wanted it to have an elegant look, and designers apparently drew inspiration from ocean liners. Blacked-out glass and cat eye-shaped headlights help out here. Incidentally, when the headlights are turned on, each "eye" is lined in green light, highlighting the 18 or 20 white lights within that are set to look like diamonds — the effect is not unlike looking at a piece of jewelry.
More important than how it looks is the drivetrain the ASM is said to use — a V6 engine with Variable Cylinder Management (allowing the van to run on fewer cylinders to conserve fuel, as in the Civic Hybrid) paired with an electric motor. This is, of course, a description of a gas/electric hybrid minivan, and as Toyota is readying a hybrid version of the V6-powered Lexus RX 330 to go along with the Prius, it makes sense that Honda would be thinking along similar lines.
Inside, the ASM is said to be able to seat up to eight passengers (though the display model and press photos show it in six-passenger form). The decor is decidedly luxurious with wood trim lining the dash, door panels and steering wheel, and leather-upholstered seats. A sliding 10-inch rear-seat monitor ensures that all of the hypothetical rear passengers would have a choice view of whatever DVD is playing on the entertainment system.
Why Should You Care?
The ASM appears to offer a few hints of what you can expect from the next U.S. market Odyssey when it arrives for the 2005 model year. A gas/electric hybrid drivetrain and a more upscale interior are strong possibilities. — Erin Riches
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