The new one Honda foreplay The hybrid sports coupe has hit the tarmac, leading the sales race in the sports car segment for the month in its first sales month.
Honda Australia registered 142 new Preludes in May, surpassing the enduringly popular Ford Mustang (127) and BMW 2 Series Coupe (94) to take the sports car sales crown in both the sub-$90,000 and over-$90,000 price segments.
However, it’s worth noting that this is the first month of registrations for the Prelude nameplate, and the coming months will be a better gauge of the new coupe’s popularity.
For reference, the Mustang returned 1,054 registrations last year, from January to the end of May.
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The arrival of the sixth-generation 2026 Honda Prelude marks the end of a 25-year hiatus for the Japanese brand’s sports car nameplate, which was last sold locally in 2001.
The Prelude has often served as a showcase for the brand and introduced several new features and technologies to the brand. In 1978, the original Honda was the first Honda with a power moonroof, while the third-generation Prelude debuted with four-wheel steering.
While the latest model doesn’t have rear-wheel steering, it does debut Honda’s ‘S+ Shift’ system, which simulates an eight-speed automatic for dynamic driving, despite the fact that the Civic-derived e:HEV series-parallel hybrid system uses an e-CVT.
Combined with Active Sound Control – which produces a “powerful engine sound that synchronizes with engine speed” – it attempts to deliver a traditional compact sports car driving experience with the efficiency of modern hybrid technology.
Prices for the 2026 Honda Prelude start from $65,000 drive-away in Australia, with only one trim level available Down Under.
Although the Prelude is $10,000 more expensive than the Civic e:HEV LX, which has the same basic powertrain, the Prelude goes some way to justifying the extra outlay with a bespoke 2+2 sports coupe body, as well as the dual-axle front suspension and adaptive dampers taken from the Civic Type R hot hatch.
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