What Is The Difference Between The Honda Odyssey And Elysion?

Car buyers in China have a wealth of options at their disposal, as local car brands compete against international brands for a slice of the world's largest car market. Foreign and domestic brands frequently form partnerships, with some foreign brands like Honda having multiple partnerships that result in very similar models with different names. The Chinese market Honda Odyssey and Elysion are a good example, as they exist primarily to distinguish between Honda's multiple partnerships with local Chinese manufacturers.

The Chinese-market Elysion is built by Dongfeng Honda, while the Odyssey is built by GAC Honda. Both are sister models, and neither is particularly unique, with styling tweaks being the main notable differences between the two. Both models reportedly sell well in China, although they face stiff competition from local brands like BYD. But while the Elysion is a Chinese-market special, Honda continues to sell the Odyssey in multiple markets around the world. In the U.S., for example, Honda reportedly sold around 72,000 examples of the minivan in 2024.

Having firmly established itself as one of America's best-selling minivans, the Honda Odyssey nameplate is a familiar one to many U.S. buyers. The Odyssey competes directly with the Toyota Sienna in America and offers a mix of practicality, efficiency, and safety that buyers expect from a Honda. The 2025 model is competitively priced too, with a starting price of $43,670 (including a $1,450 destination fee).

Despite being considered one of the automaker's more mainstream models today, the Odyssey originally began as an unofficial project shaped by a small team of engineers who were determined to give Honda a competitive entry into the then-emerging minivan segment. The original Odyssey, developed in the early '90s, was intended to be a more upmarket offering than rival minivans. It was designed from the start with the American market in mind, but it also saw success outside of the U.S., becoming an in-demand model in a number of global export markets. 

The Odyssey was also popular in Japan and was crowned the Japanese Car of the Year in its first year. A second generation of the minivan arrived in 1998, which improved on the original's formula and cemented the Odyssey's place as a leader in the global minivan market.

Fresh from the success of the Odyssey, Honda's designers began thinking about ways they could reshape the core minivan concept to better appeal to Japanese preferences. The result was the Elysion, which launched in 2004 as an upscale flagship model designed specifically for Japanese roads. It was built on a new, separate platform and featured either a 2.4-liter four-cylinder or a 3.0-liter V6 engine under the hood. A later, plusher Elysion Prestige model featured a 3.5-liter V6 with 300 hp. Even today, it remains one of the most powerful minivans ever built.

Despite being custom-built for Japan, the Elysion's domestic sales were never quite as high as Honda had hoped. However, the model found more success when it was launched in China in 2012. It was discontinued in Japan the following year, but remained on sale in China and was built in partnership with a local Chinese manufacturer. A second China-oriented generation of the Elysion, pictured above next to a Chinese-market Odyssey, was unveiled in 2015. It remains on sale today.

At the same time, the Odyssey continued to sell well in its core North American market as well as in China and Japan. The model remains Honda's main global market minivan model, and is assembled in multiple plants around the world. Since its discontinuation in 2013, the Elysion has not been reintroduced to the Japanese market. The brand's JDM minivan lineup today consists of the small Freed, the mid-range Step WGN, and its roomiest minivan model, the Odyssey. The current Japanese-market Odyssey is built in China.