Next-gen Honda Civic to be less aggressive
Tamer, evolutionary design changes for 11th generation of iconic Japanese small carIllustrations believed to show the all-new Honda Civic have been exposed via trademark filings, revealing that the Japanese brand has taken a more cautious approach with its next-generation small car.
Expected to be officially unveiled next year ahead of an Australian launch in 2022, the 11th-generation Honda Civic will be primed to take the fight back to its bigger-selling rivals including the Toyota Corolla, Kia Cerato, Hyundai i30 and Mazda3 with a less angular, more conservative design.
Gone are the edgy creases along the car’s flanks, replaced by a smoother, cleaner appearance that looks to be an evolution of the small car’s current design rather than a rewriting of the script entirely as some Civics have done in the past.
First published by the CivicXI.com forum, the patent filing illustrations show the new hatchback/liftback sticks with a swoopy roofline and has similar overall proportions to the current model.
The front-end has received plenty attention, notably with the headlights and fascia, while the rear-end has redesigned tail-lights with a full-width LED light bar running between them, not unlike some Porsche 911 models.
It is all far less dramatic than what Honda calls the “sharply defined”, “fierce design” of the current model.
Honda hasn’t released any official information on the new model yet, which may get new or at least updated powertrain options.
The Honda Civic Type R hot hatch is expected to be retained but the performance flagship traditionally arrives a couple of years after mainstream models.
The Honda Civic can trace its origins back to the early 1970s when it was a tiny runabout. It has since grown in size over almost every new generation and is currently available as a sedan and hatch/liftback, priced between $22,590 and $54,990.
Honda Australia is currently restructuring its retail operations in Australia and will axe some models from the line-up including the Jazz and City compact cars – but not the Civic.
It is one of the models confirmed to continue in Australia when the Japanese brand moves from a franchise to an agency sales model that will see customers buy vehicles at fixed prices with no haggling – like Genesis, Tesla and, soon, Mercedes-Benz.
Honda Australia has admitted national sales will probably be cut in half as a result of the move but the Civic will continue to be a key model in its future planning.
However, the new 2021 Honda Civic will have to be something special to drag buyers away from the top three-selling small cars that dominate the market in Australia.
The Toyota Corolla holds a 24 per cent market share with 17,187 sales so far in 2020, followed by the Hyundai i30 with an 18.8 per cent share (13,474 sales) and the Kia Cerato with 15.9 percent and 11,403 sales.
The Civic is currently the sixth most popular small car in Australia, with 6.8 per cent market share or 4847 sales.
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