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We told you last week that the eleventh-generation of the Honda Civic would be shown on streaming service Twitch, and lo and it behold, it was on Tuesday night.
At least in prototype form.
The full Monty will be shown to us in the late spring of next year – seems like we’re waiting until the spring of next year for a lot of things, but I digress – with the sedan being first, followed by the hatch, Si, and Type R.
Since this is a prototype, the press materials are light on specs, but photos do show an automatic transmission in one shot. That’s about all we have at this point.
The latest marketing-massaged phrase for design philosophy is “man-maximum, machine-minimum”, which Honda says means that the car’s design and tech are meant to serve the driver.
Whatever, man. To our eye, the look is toned-down compared to the current-gen car, but still sporty. Honda pulled back on some of the boy-racer stuff without going down the road to Blandsville.
The prototype maintains some of the previous-gen car – it remains low in terms of height, hip point, and beltline. The roof pillars do move aft, and the sideview mirrors are now door-mounted in an attempt to increase visibility.
The hood is now longer, and the grille sits below the headlights. Body-side creases are meant to give the car a bit more flair. Insert Office Space joke of your choice here.
Honda gave this Civic a wider track and new taillights, plus a trailing edge on the trunk lid.
Inside, Honda promises a less-cluttered look, and honeycomb accents will hide the air-conditioning vents. A 9-inch infotainment touchscreen and digital gauge cluster are promised.
Other promised features include an upgraded version of the HondaSensing suite of safety and driver-assist aids, new airbag designs, and a stiffer body structure that should increase protection for both occupants and pedestrians while also improving refinement, ride, and handling.
We don’t have specs, but we do have some mildly shocking news – production of the Civic hatchback will shift to the company’s Greenburg, Indiana plant. That plant currently builds Civic sedans, but Honda is mum on future production plans, with the obvious exception of the announcement about hatchback production shifting to the Hoosier state.
Once we know more about specs, we’ll tell ya, but we expect that the Civic will have four-cylinder power and probably only offer a manual in the Si and Type R versions. Speaking of the Type R, previous rumors have suggested it might get some sort of electrification. We shall see.
Until then, feast your eyes on what is more or less the next Civic.
[Images: Honda]
The Volkswagen Giulia…I like it.
:)
I think it looks fine. Kind of like a 2008 Kia Forte with the windows of a Cadillac CT5, but it’s alright. Nothing exciting but not painfully ugly like many recent Hondas.
I’m wondering if we’ll get a version with a plug for North America. If all the ICE cars are going to disappear in the next 10-15 years then automakers better get cracking.
That C-pillar looks to be a dead ringer for the CT5’s, which everyone loves to crap on. I wonder if Honda will get the same criticism, or will they get a pass because they’re Honda.
Honda was first with that on the Accord.
This looks so much better than the current model, which I’ve always hated. They needed to take the Civic to a more mature place again, and it looks like they’ve done that.
I suspect that 1. The ILX will finally die and 2. There will be AWD and things to take this upmarket a bit.
Maybe the Insight will die (stupid name) and they’ll just put a hybrid drivetrain in this model, name it the Civic Hybrid, and call it a day. Give it unique weird wheels and a paint color you can’t get anywhere else. Done.
The fact that Honda is making three different Civic platforms in 2020 is absurd.
I like this, much more sedate in appearance than current version which overshot good taste an acre of black plastic and 5 fake air inlets ago.
As Civic seems to keep growing, you have to wonder what they have planned for the Accord. From the looks of this, sure seems like it is now larger than an accord from 20 years ago and maybe could be called midsized at this point. With Camry now offering AWD, I would think the Honda sedans will follow at least on some trims.
Honda has always confounded me a bit with Accord.
They never made an Avalon size car, and they always trail Camry and seemingly even Altima in addition of features.
It looks just like the Accord to me. With the V6 gone, is there really that much space in between these two cars anymore?
I was thinking it looked big for a Civic. No dimensions, just looks like a big car.
A definite improvement over the current Hot Wheels look.
The side reminds me a bit of the first generation 1-Series, but not too bad.
As for the ILX, I understand Acura is planning a new compact sedan under TLX for 2022 according to a leaked dealer presentation. What name it will use, we’ll see.
I would use a different name, as ILX means nothing to nobody.
They should definitely call something the “Legend” and “Integra”. Even though the potential customers pining for a return of those marks may be short, their alphabet soup naming scheme isn’t doing them any favors and is entirely forgettable.
I totally agree about their forgettable and meaningless naming strategy. But since their new midsize sedan is still a TLX and Honda being Honda, we’ll probably end up with another forgettable alphabet combination. ISX? CLX?
I agree, much improved styling.
Every design element looks like it’s lifted from the also-rans in the category. The current Civic is at least a bold design that’s fairly cohesive, you could slap a VW or Kia or Subaru or Nissan badge on this and I wouldn’t look twice.
Let me get this straight: they no longer have a live, in-the-metal reveal, opting for a streaming event, and they don’t even have a real production car? How do we know it’s not all make-believe, and they haven’t finished the design yet?
As a ‘19 Sport Touring hatch owner, I’d have to see the hatch before I rule this generation out. This is giving me 2012 Civic vibes in terms of exterior design, nothing earth shattering, a bit of a step down from the current gen particularly the rear. Interior looks premium, bit austere in the Teutonic sense. Good ambient lighting, materials, seat color options, and great tech will help.
Unpopular opinion, I love the current gen, vents, lobster claws, and all. Totally shook up the segment in 2015 and was totally unexpected from Honda, especially after the halfhearted 9th gen and sales reflected it. The design has managed to stay relevant and I still get compliments on my car. My car does about everything right, my only complaints being the clunky infotainment system and no lane keep assist.
I know Honda is usually conservative every other generation but this isn’t 2015 anymore, the whole segment especially the Koreans have caught up. Was hoping Honda would be just as daring this time around but guess I’ll have to see when the production model, along with the hatch and Type R, are revealed.
Looks like a jetta.
It’s ok. I like that it’s more mature/upmarket looking and I think the front looks a bit better, but from the profile the design looks stubby/chunky. Plus the rear is very derivative. The slightly oversized tail lights looks just like a half dozen Kia/Audi/VW’s out there.
This looks very much like a junior accord to me now, much more in line with a cohesive design language for Honda. I’m a big fan on less fussy styling, so I’ll chalk this up in the win column as opposed to seeing more of the transformers/13 year old boy racer style of the current gen driving around everywhere. The only demerit I give this prototype’s styling is that it looks like they poached one of Toyota’s designers with that hoover of a front fascia.
There are still a lot of Civic (and Corolla) buyers out there who want a good small car (not a crossover), and this model will probably sell like mad, but I see WAY too much Jetta and even some Audi A3 in the exterior and Mazda in the interior. I’ll hold off final judgment until I see one in person. It is nowhere as over the top as the current gen and at least it hasn’t gone full catfish grill up front like the Corolla.
Very interested to see if the Type R takes on this more mature look like a Golf R or continues with the over-the-top style (and if the 400+ hp hybrid powertrain rumor comes true…)
Interesting to me that the new Civic follows the Accord’s design. Honda has in the past typically used the Civic to advance the overall themes of it design language. Here the Civic adapts the Accord’s front end, roof-line, and DLO.
And to best understand why the market is shrinking for sedans in favor of mid-size CUVs like the CR-V, look at the arc of the roof line over the rear door that makes ingress/egress more difficult. The short rear deck is also problematic in that it creates a mail-slot like access to the trunk. CUVs are much more practical vehicles (basically a station wagon version of these sedans). I have noticed however that the roof lines of these are now sloping more rearward than previously, likely for aero reasons, as well.
Much better – even nice – but c’mon, does the center display still need to protrude up above the dash?
Honda is losing their way. Remember the quickie 2012 Civic refresh?
The display should sit as high as possible, to reduce how far focus has to move from the road, without blocking views.
Since drivers’ eyes are higher than the dash and display, and are hence looking down on the display, the display should therefore sit higher than the dash as well. As it still only blocks view of part of the dash and, worst case, hood. Not anything in front of the car.
“man-maximum, machine-minimum”
a.k.a. “walking”
Like most here, I like the deletion of the Boy Racer cues outside. Inside, I see a bunch of cheap flat surfaces, a continuation of Honda’s long-term interior cheapening. Hard to believe it, but Honda interiors across mnost segments generally are no longer competitive with the Koreans.
The bean counters call the shots at Honda now. If you don’t believe it, look at the free fall of their Consumer Reports defect-rate statistics.