You could get a 10 seater Honda CR-V in the Philippines

"Kar Wai Wong" (kingawesome467) 07/11/2020 at 11:56 • Filed to: Honda, CR-V, Honda CR-V, Philippines, the Philippines, auv, seats, car seats, third row

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How did this happen? Let’s back it up a bit.

In the Philippines, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , or Asian Utility Vehicles. Descended from the Jeepney, the best way I can describe it are body-on-frame MPVs. Tough, designed for carrying many people, and but not for offroading like an SUV. Examples include the Toyota Tamaraw, Isuzu Crosswind, and the Mitsubishi Adventure.

The layout of all these are the same, the first two rows can seat 3 people each, and than opposing facing jump seats in the back for another 4 people, leading to enough space for 10 people.

Minivans usually have an empty gap where the centre console would be, and that was taken advantage of.

From 2001 to 2005, GM offered special 10 seater versions of the Chevrolet Venture to the Philippines (Well more specifically the Filipino Ventures were exported and rebadged Buick GL8s, the Chinese version of the U-body minivan), in a bananas 3+4+3 layout! Being a 10 seater made it eligible for it to be considered an AUV, and commercial vehicle by the government, which were subject to no excise tax, and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

But the Venture is already a spacious minivan, how did Honda Philippines somehow double   the seating capacity of the 2nd gen Honda CR-V, which wasn’t even available with a third row?

Well they accomplished that by adding one, and boy is it flimsy looking. I couldn’t find any decent images from the front, but it’s a bench in the literal sense of the word. Like the jump seats, there are no headrests, no seatbelts, no contouring for your back, just flatness. Being an afterthought, it just folds against the 2nd row when not in use, but at least it’s easily removable. And being a 10 seater, that rear bench technically has capacity for 3 people. Oh no.

Like the others, they get a bench seat upfront, CR-Vs have like a tiny table where the centre console would be, so it was a simple addition. But look at that middle row. There are four seatbelt buckles highlighted. Honda added 2 additional lapbelts, in conjunction with the regular 3 point belts, added and moved the buckles and called it a day. Yep, it totally seats 4 now! That is astounding, how did GM put more effort into this than Honda? What if you’re taking just 4 people on a trip? The back seat passengers either have to sit on only half of the seat, or use the buckle in the middle, and have a seatbelt up your arse! Congratulations Honda, you made a 10 seater with only 2 comfortable seats!

I actually once had to travel with 3 other people stuffed in the back seat of this gen CR-V for an hour long trip both ways, and it was about as uncomfortable as you’d expect. I remember wishing at the time if only there was another seat at the front like the Honda FR-V, and I never would’ve thought that not only Honda actually did that, but also that sitting like that was the intended way in one region!

Being now classified as an AUV meant that it was 20% cheaper than the previous generation, and actually became the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . But presumably in response to Honda’s shenanigans, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a year after the CR-V was launched in the Philippines, which pretty much signalled the start of the end for the segment, but that didn’t stop Honda with this seating nonsense.

Hilariously, they offered a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for the 3rd gen CR-V as an accessory, which like the previous one, had no seatbelts, headrests or comfort. It took until the 4th gen CR-V to be available with a properly designed third row, and available worldwide.

So AUVs are essentially dead, in 2017, both the Isuzu Crosswind and the Mitsubishi Adventure were discontinued without proper replacements. Back in 2004, the Toyota Tamaraw FX Revo was succeeded by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which is also body-on-frame, so that could be considered the last remaining AUV, but it only seats up to 8. But the seat stuffing didn’t stop, they just moved.

Turns out, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! than 10 people in Thailand, it too is subject to no excise tax, leading to several companies (All Korean for some reason) to take advantage of this. Although instead of jump seats or 4 people wide benches, they just squeeze in another row of seats! In Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines, Kia offers an 11 seater version of their Grand Carnival minivan (Americans know it as the Kia Sedona).

...and both generations of the Ssangyong Rodius could be had with 11 seats. Apparently they thought this one is safe enough to be sold outside emerging markets, as it could also be had in it’s home market of South Korea.

Hyundai’s Grand Starex/H-1 also comes in a 4 row variant (which is also available in South Korea). Being based on an actual cargo van, this seems alot less impressive, but 4 rows is still practically unheard of for a van it’s size. And, being a van, it comes with a front bench seat, meaning it’s a 12 seater!

So that’s it, the art of stuffing in way too many seats into vehicles never designed for it so you can abuse tax regulations in Southeast Asian countries.

Gerry197 > Kar Wai Wong 07/11/2020 at 12:08

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Those seat belts don’t matter one bit.

No one wears seat belts in the Philippines and they carry their kids on their lap instead of a car seat even in modern new or premium cars .

Probably has to do with the fact you are driving less than 10 mph in traffic 97 % of the time.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Kar Wai Wong 07/11/2020 at 12:14

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This is all terribly depressing to think of people being contorted into those positions for long car rides. I wouldn’t have thought you could seat four across in a 2nd gen CRV even without seat belts. How on earth? Perhaps 4 emaciated children could just barely squeeze, but you’d have to have dieted in preparation.

Sovande > Kar Wai Wong 07/11/2020 at 12:37

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You can fit 25 people in a phone booth. I believe clowns have figured out how to maximize the space in a VW Bug. 

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Kar Wai Wong 07/11/2020 at 12:39

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My Mazda5 is rated for 6 pax in three rows. In other countries they include a middle seat in the middle row for a total of 7. But with these rules? A big car like mine must be a 15 seater...

Nibby > Kar Wai Wong 07/11/2020 at 13:05

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s o y o u ’ re sa y i n g t h i s might actually exist?

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Kar Wai Wong 07/11/2020 at 13:13

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If you go to india you can find ten-seat motorcycles

Kiltedpadre > Kar Wai Wong 07/11/2020 at 13:15

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I’m a bit surprised that the four row minivans didn’t toss the last one in as rear facing. That would make it easier to get in/out and looking at a window as opposed to three rows of heads might feel less claustrophobic. Granted it’s pretty clear passenger comfort wasn’t at the top of the design criteria.

Given how slapped together the others look it can’t be due to a concern about crashworthiness. 

Gerry197 > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/11/2020 at 13:15

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It’s rarely used, but if you have family over and need to get them to a party or an event, it works for the short term. No one has a family of 10 they are taking everywhere with them in the Philippines, not with a CRV at least. Most likely a Ford van if that was the case.

Essentially extended family comes over, you have that capability to put a pair of grandparents and kids back there.

DasWauto > Gerry197 07/11/2020 at 13:15

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I have several Filipino coworkers, can confirm. When I told them it’s a $200 ticket here they adopted the practice pretty quickly.  

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Nibby 07/11/2020 at 13:27

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Except stretched the other way. I don't think such a wide car would be particularly useful. Better add a second story.

ClassicDatsunDebate > Kar Wai Wong 07/11/2020 at 14:00

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Imagine trying to stuff 10 Americans in there!

ranwhenparked > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/11/2020 at 16:39

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Its mostly just a tax loophole

ranwhenparked > ClassicDatsunDebate 07/11/2020 at 16:40

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Just 6 or 7 Americans would probably exceed the weight limit

Michael Woyahn > Kar Wai Wong 07/11/2020 at 20:28

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This is was such a good read. Had no idea these 10+ seater versions existed other than the Ssanyong! Thank you for writing this up!

fhrblig > Kar Wai Wong 07/11/2020 at 23:40

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Good lord. A few years ago I ended up in the 3rd row seat of my parents’ ‘03 Ford Explorer with my mother, and we were both miserable. She’s 7 inches shorter than me . My knee and hip hurt for days.

TheBlightOfGrey > Nibby 07/12/2020 at 00:49

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Imported to states

The cult of 4 wheel drive sold

Then head-gaskets ble w

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 07/12/2020 at 02:29

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This is not a photoshop.

Jim Spanfeller > Kar Wai Wong 07/12/2020 at 10:17

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IIRC, because the Philippines is a U.S. territory, the cars sold there are built to U.S. regulations and therefore already road legal in America even though several of them aren’t sold in America. So you can import them to America and it’ll be fine. The only reason nobody does this is that aside from maybe the Mazdaspeed 2, they don’t have much we would actually want.

HammerheadFistpunch > Kar Wai Wong 07/12/2020 at 12:12

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reminds me of the fact that you can stuff 8 people in an FJ cruiser if you really want to and don’t particularly like those people.

My cousin and her family have one and they actually go wheeling with the whole family. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 07/12/2020 at 12:55

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No, it's a waste. Perfect for doing yoga on the move. Or orgies, but one of those is better done in a convertible.

ClassicDatsunDebate > HammerheadFistpunch 07/12/2020 at 23:54

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As a person who has sat in the backseat of an FJ, those pictures are almost giving me a panic attack.

Someone > Kar Wai Wong 07/13/2020 at 11:54

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The Revo was available with a front facing third row seats as a 9 seater in a 3+3+3 configuration prior to Honda’s AUV CRV introduction however few opted for that option making it a rare sight. Like shown here with the South african Variant of the revo except third row seatbelts were not fitted even though provisions are available since 1999 among other things like ABS and 4WDw/ low range :

Someone > ranwhenparked 07/13/2020 at 12:46

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For The CRV’s case i think it was however the rest of the AUVs have been genuinely used as 10+ seaters like this :

extensively in shared taxi services known here as the UV Express or the FX named after the Vehicle that started the industry (Tamaraw FX the R evo’s P redecessor )

Someone > Kiltedpadre 07/13/2020 at 12:53

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The Hyundai H100 was offered with jump seats instead in a 15 seater configuration

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Kar Wai Wong 07/15/2020 at 10:47

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38k views.

Kar Wai Wong > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 07/15/2020 at 11:41

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But whyyy yyyy?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Kar Wai Wong 07/15/2020 at 11:52

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CR-V in the title + Kinja SEO.