Honda GEAR Concept Previews Trendy City Car Ambitions

Honda's eye-catching NSX concept unsurprisingly caught the most attention last week, but the Japanese car company also had a fetching urban alternative in the shape of the Honda GEAR concept. Previewed not in Detroit but at the Montreal International Auto Show, the Honda GEAR is an angular sub-compact that the company believes is ideal for "young, urban, Gen-Y lifestyles" – or, in other words, the car the Honda Fit really should've been.

Technical details of the GEAR concept are in short-supply, with Honda instead preferring to focus on the styling decisions its US R&D team took. The claim is that the GEAR is inspired by fixed-gear bicycles, as well as being "simple and utilitarian, but also customizable, connected and full of personality."

Great buzzwords, though they perhaps unnecessarily dress up Honda's real goal with the GEAR: to create a car that's "cool" enough for young drivers to covet, but also affordable enough for them to buy. Honda isn't saying exactly how much it envisages any production version of the GEAR costing, mind.

Interior shots haven't been released (it's possible Honda hasn't even designed the cabin yet), and the degree to which the GEAR is connected is also unstated. If, though, the company could bring a distinctive four-seater to market, preferably a hybrid, at a price point – and with running costs – undercutting the roughly $15,000 starting price of the Fit, it would certainly get its fair share of attention.