We had not yet seen the 2017 Honda Civic Type R.
We did not yet know at what lofty level the 2017 Honda Civic Type R would be priced.
We didn’t know precisely when we’d have an opportunity to purchase a 2017 Honda Civic Type R. We didn’t know how powerful it would be, whether there’d be a CVT option, if the Civic Si would be powerful enough to decrease Type R demand, or how many aero-aiding elements the Civic Type R would be wearing when it came off the boat from the UK.
But we were told Honda thought it could sell 2,000 Civic Type Rs per month. Which is impossible.
It was April 2015, two years before the 2017 Honda Civic Type R landed on U.S. shores.
“I’d hope we could sell a couple thousand a month,” then American Honda executive vice president John Mendel said.
But American Honda will only have 2,500 Civic Type Rs in its entire (abbreviated) 2017 model year run. According to Car And Driver, the allotment earned by American Honda for the 2018 Civic Type R is only 5,000 cars.
That’s 417 Civic Type Rs per month.
At least in these early stages of the hot hatch’s life, with some Civic Type R buyers paying well in excess of the $34,775 asking price, it appears as though there’s sufficient demand for many more Civic Type R sales.
But 24,000 buyers for a $35K Civic on an annual basis? GTI-beating numbers from a Golf R rival? That seemed doubtful from the get-go, particularly since Honda is notoriously unwilling to run the risk of over-supplying dealers with cars.
In Cars.com’s inventory of 74 Civic Type Rs, 12 are priced by their dealers above $40,000, six are priced above $45,000, and at Bell Honda in Phoenix, Arizona, there’s a 2017 Honda Civic Type R priced at $59,988.
The Civic Type R is, like Honda’s other Civic hatchbacks, built at the company’s British plant in Swindon, England. According to Automotive News Data Center, hatchbacks account for 22 percent of the Civics sold in the U.S. so far this year.
CNET’s Roadshow reported earlier this year that Ford was selling 500 copies of the Focus RS per month with average transaction prices of $42,351. Volkswagen reported an average of 388 Golf R sales per month in the first-half of 2017. Subaru is currently selling around 2,700 WRX and STI sedans per month, but Subaru doesn’t break that pair down by model.
[Image: Honda]
Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars.
60 thousand for a Civic. Lulz.
“Toys for the rich”, just like EVs, apparently.
“of 74 Civic Type Rs, 12 are priced by their dealers above $40,000, six are priced above $45,000, and at Bell Honda in Phoenix, Arizona, there’s a 2017 Honda Civic Type R priced at $59,988”
Thank goodness we are protected by dealerships so we don’t have to buy cars directly from the manufacturer. They certainly are providing us with many benefits and choices.
I would certainly hate to know that everyone was paying the same price for a popular car when it first comes out.
You are totally protected by one simple word: “No.”
So someone would rather this car than a Cayman ? A C7 Vette ? etc etc etc ?????
But this Civic has RED brakes!!! Red is THE color for stopping, you know like a stop sign or a red light. You must have RED brakes.
A 35K Civic is crazy but a $60K one is white coat, padded cell bonkers.
@speedlaw
Well, some of us DO need to carry 3-4 passengers at times.. Cayman/C7 is totally out in those cases.. But, $60K for this over an STI? Or a whole bunch of BMWs, Audis, MBs, etc? No way..
There are many people in the financial position to purchase the 2017 “Integra Type-R” of their youth.
People were paying 70, 80, even 100 large for a Mustang when they could have purchased a Cayman just recently and some people were paying 50k or more for a Focus as well.
Typical Phoenix car dealer. They will also charge a $499 doc fee, $1499 for a Desert Protection Package and $299 for nitrogen filled tires.
My theory is that they are prepping an Acura version w/ the 2.0T, and they don’t want to make getting a 2.0T Civic too easy, or there’s reduced reasons for the Acura to exist. (Same reason the Honda choices in the US have often been limited… because we have Acura.)
Here’s hoping the Acura version will have styling that appeals to grownups that can actually afford it. If they can get that right it would provide the kind of credibility Acura needs.
Wow, I hope you’re right. If Acura can switch to the 2.0T from the 2.4, the ILX and even base TLX will get very interesting.
That would make too much sense. The recent LCI for the TLX shows they don’t expect an improved model for several years. That thing has until the new Accord comes out to shine, and then its going to look like a turd again. Unless they change the development cycle to put new tech in the Acura first (or at least at about the same time), Acura is stuck being a brand for well off conservative 40 to 70 year olds.
No thanks, Honda. Rather have an S3
For the 0.01% who may consider this car, this is urgent news to be evaluated.
I know appearance is subjective, but how does anyone find that thing attractive?
A SI was parked in a driveway along my evening walk route. I tried but I could not find anything aesthetically pleasing about this car.
I think Honda is using more of their if we build it, they will come cache on this one.
Not anyone with functioning eyesight.
You gotta hold them back so that the one fanboy will will pay that $10k ADP sticker can be found. There aren’t many, and if you sold 2000 per month, the dealer would be forced to hear you talk about incentives and TrueCar values…instead of just getting coffee and saying…take it or leave it.
Picking between this or the new Hyundai I30 N that was revealed today would be like asking the average guy who he’d want to take home, Steve Buscemi or Jessica Alba.
Well done, sir. Quote of the week.
They is a sizable gay male contingent among the best and brightest. I’m guessing even they would choose Alba..
Even Liberace would pick Jessica Alba.
From now on, we will call the Civic, the “Honda Steve Buscemi”, good at its job, just not very handsome.
Did somebody Photoshop that fancy-pants restaurant in the background of that pic, covering up the McDonalds it was actually parked in front of??
Considering the cobblestone road, French words and complete bullshit no parking signage, this is likely a legit place at the old port in Montreal. I think there was an unveiling there.
Still pick a Focus RS or Golf R even if this is hondie calling…
At least as fugly as a Juke Nismo if not fuglier.
You know its funny, I look at the profile of this ridiculous Civic and I better understand the Coochover craze.
If you make the other models horrible of course the one with real headroom, rear passenger accommodations and sometimes with better styling wins the day. Almost as if it was intentional… nah couldn’t be.
If I were in this market, I’d probably cross shop the Type R and the Focus RS. Are the Fords still selling with a markup? They both look pretty nice around MSRP, but with barely any markup at all you’re in the used C7 zone. Obviously very different cars, but come on…
The RS is selling at invoice. I know because I bought one, today.
No one want’s a hot hatch with a manual. Give us more CVT SUVs!
Give me a sleeper option with wing delete.
Charge msrp.
Done.
I’m dying to see what the new Accord 2.0L can do, specially the 2 doors, it might feel stupid to get the “R” when you can get the same engine in a “normal” car for much less….
That smacking sound you hear is the sound of Law Enforcement licking their chops.
uh-huh. sure.