Paris 2014 Honda HR-V 2

Striking isn't it, this lady in red? Besides the attention grabbing, horn winged Civic Type R Concept, Honda brought its European market HR-V to the 2014 Paris Motor Show.

Officially called the HR-V Prototype, the reason 'prototype' is in the name could be because of unfinalised spec and trim. Like the ASEAN HR-V from the recent 2014 Indonesia International Motor Show, it's a very good preview of the units that will hit showrooms. We've seen the HR-V/Vezel on three occasions now, but never in red.

Paris 2014 Honda HR-V 4

You can't survive in Europe without a diesel engine, and the Euro HR-V is the first to get an oil burner. It's a 1.6 litre Earth Dreams i-DTEC unit, likely to push out the same 160 PS and 350 Nm as in the facelifted CR-V. The petrol should be the 131 PS/155 Nm 1.5 litre direct-injected i-VTEC from the Japanese-market Vezel. Both are mated to a six-speed manual, but the petrol can also be had with a CVT.

The Honda HR-V will go on sale in Europe next year, when we also expect the B-segment SUV to appear in Malaysia. This is a hot segment all right - the new Suzuki Vitara, fresh Fiat 500X and SsangYong's XIV are all vying for attention at Paris Expo.

Like what you see? Check out the Indonesian-spec HR-V for a better preview of what we're going to get.

Honda HR-V at the 2014 Indonesia International Motor Show
JDM Honda Vezel at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show