The Honda Civic is one of the most recognisable nameplates across the globe after it was originally introduced in Japan in 1972. The Civic range has over the years expanded into a sedan, hatchback and even a station wagon. While the car continues to be popular across Europe and the US, it has been discontinued in its home market Japan. According to a recent report by Automotive News, Honda Japan has decided to pull the plug on the Civic sedan owing to weakened popularity of the model in recent years. This is for the second time the sedan has been discontinued in Japan after Honda had temporarily retired the car from its line-up in 2010, before resurrecting the model in 2017 with the tenth-generation version.
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Even as the Honda Civic continues to be one of the best-sellers for the brand across several markets, its popularity in Japan has been declining over the years. Just how low you ask? Between the 2019-20 financial year, Honda sold just 1619 units of the Civic, according to the report as against over 250,000 units of the Honda N-Box Kei car. While the sales comparison does not speak volumes about the Civic's capability as a car, it does tell you about the larger consumer preference.
The 2020 Honda Civic Type R and the hatchback versions will continue to remain on sale as full imports from the UK
With the strict taxation norms and congested roads, Kei cars remain popular in Japan, similar to India's entry-level hatchback segment. The current generation Honda Civic then is a rather large car by Japanese standards. Interestingly, it is seen as a compact sedan in the US. Production for the Civic will end in Japan in August this year, while the five-door hatchback and the Type R derivatives will continue to be on sale as imports from the UK, till the end of the model's life cycle. Meanwhile, the Honda Swindon plant in the UK will shut production next year while assembly at the Turkey plant will end in 2021 as well. The production for the Civic then is likely to move to the US entirely or could be assigned to a new plant in Europe.
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Meanwhile, India got the current generation in India in 2019 after the older generation model had a spectacular run between 2006 and 2013. However, the segment itself has shrunk in volumes over the years but the Civic has managed to well for the brand. Honda already retails the model with a BS6 petrol engine, while it announced the commencement of pre-bookings for the BS6 compliant diesel version of the Civic earlier this month. The Civic BS6 Diesel will go on sale in India in July this year.
