Honda has long been known for reliable cars like the sensible Accord and sporty Civic. It recently added rugged capability to that mix with the Passport TrailSport, which saw incredible demand from buyers almost immediately. Honda took us through an off-road course with steep hills, sand, and mud to prove the TrailSport's capability, after which we sat down with Jessika Laudermilk, Assistant Vice President of Honda National Sales, to find out why Honda is making this off-road pivot. She revealed the impact the SUV has had on the brand - and, in the wake of further TrailSport expansion, we understand why this is a problem most brands would love to have. A Problem Honda Loves To Have 2026-honda-passport-trailsport-front-three-quarterThe TrailSport had barely started arriving in dealerships when consumer response was considered overwhelmingly positive. “This officially launched on February 11th,” she said. “We’ve already sold close to 1,500 so far.” This was a year ago, in April of 2025 - the Passport TrailSport was selling so well, there wasn't enough of them to go around."All of our dealers are basically asking us for more. Many of them have waitlists or have already sold orders of the vehicles they have that are in their pipeline and on their way."- Jessika Laudermilk, Assistant Vice President of Honda National SalesThat’s a good sign for Honda. “Customer reception is really positive,” Laudermilk said proudly, at the time. “We always know something’s good if our dealers are asking us for more.”But what makes the TrailSport so desirable, and why did Honda decide to go so rugged for the new generation - and then expand the TrailSport to other models? We asked Laudermilk what the philosophy was behind pursuing this rugged brand image. Finding The Emotion In SUVs 2026 Honda Passport wheel“Going back to when we really started pushing a rugged image and theme for the Honda brand, [it] was [six] years ago,” Laudermilk said. “It was after that we saw a huge shift [from] passenger cars to light trucks and that huge, massive shift that happened in the 2010s.”The market research showed telling information about how the brand is perceived. “We over-indexed versus our competitors on the rational purchase reasons for passenger cars and light trucks,” Laudermilk said. “We also over-indexed in the emotional purchase reasons, but then when we looked at the emotional purchase reasons for our SUVs and light trucks, we were not over-indexing.”That gap gave Honda an opportunity."We needed to find a way to connect more emotionally with our Honda customers, to move them up to SUVs and to really prove to them that we do have capable, rugged SUVs that can connect emotionally too."- Jessika LaudermilkIt wasn’t about just building a super-capable off-roader for rock-crawling. “We knew we weren’t Jeep, or we weren’t Toyota, or we weren’t Ford,” Laudermilk explains. “We had to find something that felt very authentic and uniquely Honda.”"Authentically and uniquely Honda" required identifying what the core traits of the brand are, and through a process of internal reflection, interviewing the people that design and engineer the brand's SUVs, Honda was able to identify the core traits it needed to hone in on rather than pursuing a market segment that wouldn't fit with the brand."What really came through after doing lots of interviews internally through our designers and engineers and our quality teams is the capability and the durability that our Honda SUVs do have.” - Jessika Laudermilk A Performance SUV Was A Consideration Honda’s sporty reputation with cars like the Civic Type R might have made a performance SUV a natural fit, but it didn’t fully translate to those larger offerings. This gave rise to the TrailSport as a new, more capable trim range for Honda’s SUVs. “When we introduced the TrailSport model a few years ago, the first one was technically Passport,” Laudermilk said. “Now, we're rolling it out to the other trims, trying to have that halo trim for each of our models.”The Passport TrailSport was then the latest version of Honda’s off-road vision. “With the new Passport, it’s kind of the halo of that rugged image and capability now for our SUV lineup that the previous model didn’t necessarily have as strongly,” she adds.2026 Honda Passport headrest TrailSport Is The Future HondaBut since this interview, Honda has done even more with the TrailSport trim - you'll find the latest CR-V and Pilot models are available in the rugged trim, too, and the brand doesn't seem to be slowing down, showing off an even wilder version at SEMA 2025. Kazuhiro Takizawa, Honda North America CEO, told CarBuzz that TrailSport was just the beginning, suggesting that Honda sees the TailSport models as a kind of rugged flagship for the lineup - like a "Type R for off-road."The CEO of the Japanese brand also clearly indicated that this isn't just about looks - Honda will be improving ground clearance and suspension to ensure these models are genuinely competitive. So what does TrailSport actually want to achieve? Designed For Adventure Seekers The hope is to keep current Honda owners with the brand and steal folks away from the other guys. “We’re looking at current Honda owners that might look to move up or get something a little bit different than what they might currently own, whether it’s a current Passport or it’s a Pilot or moving up even from a CR-V,” Laudermilk said. “We also see it as a model that can attract customers from outside the Honda brand as a good conquest model, since it’s quite different from the rest of our lineup, and it has a lot more capability than our previous models do.” TrailSport Delivers The Goods For Novice Off-Roaders 2026 Honda Passport profileLaudermilk is a novice off-roader herself and had a chance to put the Passport TrailSport to the test. “I felt very comfortable and very confident driving it with little instruction because there are just a few switches and it drove really nice and smooth on some pretty steep and pretty challenging terrain,” she said. Even the most expert off-roader was new once and the TrailSport makes it easy to learn the basics. It’s not just for trails, though. “It also can do great on the road and driving around town, whether it’s the commute to work or taking the kids to different sporting events,” she added. “It’s very versatile and very comfortable.”Honda’s betting big on the TrailSport to redefine its SUV game. It’s a trail-worthy SUV that combines the practicality of the Honda brand with a dose of capability for adventurous spirits.“Our marketing efforts started later in February on the 24th, so I think it’s still kind of gaining awareness, but so far the reception’s been super positive.”- Jessika Laudermilk, Assistant Vice President of Honda National Sales Is The Demand Still There In 2026 HondaMid-way through 2025, Honda reported that 76% of Passport sales were for the TrailSport model, and by the end of that year, had seen a 50% increase in sales from the previous November. After the introduction of the TrailSport model, the Passport closed the year with a 73% increase in sales. And in early 2026, both the Passport and the Pilot showed improvements in sales figures - both offering the TrailSport trim, which accounted for 80% of the Passport sales by February 2026. The brand has clearly found something that resonates with buyers in America, as a year on, demand for the off-road trim is even higher.Sources: Honda