It's a growing phenomenon across the industry; we're talking about those vehicles dedicated to delivering enhanced off-road capabilities. The likes of the Ford F-150 Raptor and Jeep Wrangler have been joined in recent months and years by a number of models or variants that have one mission - to allow their owners to venture off-road.
We recently saw this with the Badlands version of the Bronco Sport and the Wilderness variant Subaru is preparing for its Outback model.
And we know that Honda is working on something similar. In fact, last July, the company registered the name Trailsport. Last month, it was back at the trademark office, this time to add a logo to the name.
The new application, discovered by the Carbuzz website, shows a logo consisting of a mountain range with the word "Trailsport" in stylized letters. It actually bears a striking resemblance to Subaru's recently unveiled Wilderness logo, though that one depicts an even higher mountain. So no points for originality, but then, what else would you expect on this type of product logo but a mountain? Jeep's Trail Rated logo also features, yup, mountain peaks.
The application describes that the use of the logo is for “Land vehicles, namely, sport utility vehicles, automobiles, trucks, and structural parts for the foregoing”.
So expect significant changes to the vehicles that will carry this designation.
It remains to be seen whether the Trailsport approach will replace or complement HPD (Honda Performance Development) accessories, such as those seen on the Ridgeline pickup. We also don't know if the name will be used to identify complementary equipment, like TRD at Toyota or Mopar at Jeep.
As for the models that will get it, we can expect the Ridgeline pickup and the Passport and Pilot SUVs to be prime candidates.