Here’s your first official look at the 2022 Honda Civic.
And like a kid getting to open one Christmas present a little early, that’s it, that’s all you get. You’ll have to wait two whole weeks to get the rest.
That’s when Honda will give us the full deets, at least on the sedan.
Honda’s press release talks about “uncluttered design” and indeed, the car shown in the photo has a fairly clean look to our eyes. It’s a lot less busy than the current design, that’s for sure. We’d love to see more angles and an interior shot, but Honda hasn’t yet released those images.
If you’re feeling a sense of déjà vu, well, you have seen the car before. Just not officially.
If you want to see the car launched live, you can follow along on Live Nation’s Twitch stream at around 6 pm PT on April 28.
The big news here, at least until we get the specs, is a reminder that the Civic sedan will be built in Canada, in Alliston, Ontario. The hatchback will follow later this year, and that be built in Indiana.
OK, kid, here’s your present for today to tide you over. The full unwrapping is in two weeks…think you can hold it that long?
[Image: Honda]
There’s something about the front of this that is very 90s to me, so I really like the simplicity. I’m daydreaming about fantastic 80s/90s-y Japanese gauges but we all know this will have screens everywhere inside. Still, I dare to dream. Very curious to see what the hatch looks like.
Real gauges and a single integrated screen would be amazing.
Honda had awesome gauges from circa 1990 to 2000. Just clean and efficient.
This ex-Prelude owner has to agree, even into the early 2000s. Honda lost me with the Starfleet version of the Civic in 2006 with the digital speed up high and analog others down below.
I also dare to dream. Hopefully the interior will get a reworking in the same vein as the exterior, and will signal a return to the clean, functional designs of the 80s-90s (bring back the gauges that had the white backlit markings and orange sidelit needles – so legible and easy on the eyes).
The exterior looks like a significant upgrade to me, glad to see them hopefully returning to the virtues of more understated, clean styling, which looks a lot more “upscale” to my eyes.
Because it does resemble ’99 Corolla
98 Protege ES gauges – fantastico! Or German mid-80s
I liked my no-nonsense ’00 Protege ES gauge and switch layout too. I especially liked the little cruise control stalk on the lower part of the wheel. Very intuitive after you’ve used it a few times. Noisy as heck on the highway, but a good solid car.
@ DAWN
You know of what you speak. My 89 Civic Si. Back lit white.
Front lit orange. At night – outstanding visibility and low eyestrain.
My 03 Accord EX V6 had the a la Lexus Electroluminescent display. Similar Visibility but higher eyestrain.
I am seeing a bit of ’94 Accord up front, which is not a bad thing if not the most exciting.
I do wish they cleaned up the side a bit more, but it’s a definite improvement over the current car.
They fixed it. It doesn’t look like a video game car anymore…. but did they walk away from their core customer base?
Before we proclaim anything “Fixed”, let’s wait and see what the hatch looks like.
Yep…I’d say promising, but I need to see the rear.
Exactly. Watch it be, well we had the budget to do a front clip (and maybe hood?) but not enough to clean up the ass end sheet metal.
So how many updates to the Civic now and still nothing for the ILX/Integra or will it just go away.
Honda clearly does not care about the ILX. I imagine they’ll just kill it off, or “replace” it with an HR-V class CUV.
Ahem, Corey, ahem. https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/06/type-s-almost-all-the-things-acuras-2022-product-line-leaked/
My hope is that with the killing of the Civic coupe there exists a place at Acura for a 2 door civic based car with at least the Si drivetrain (dare I dream type R power), styling that doesnt look like someone spun out in the Pep Boy’s accessory aisle circa 1997 and sporting Integra badges.
Given the industry direction I’ll probably get the Integra badges on some sort of CR-V based vehicle sadly.
Doubtful, “Integra” is a word and those are verboten for faux/near luxury model names.
@ Art – Regarding the killing of the Civic coupe, one interesting thing I’d noticed on Honda’s configurator was that the base-ish coupe had a different sway bar set-up than the base-ish sedan. (The coupe has been removed, so I can’t easily reconfirm this.)
I haven’t driven either car, let alone both back-to-back, so I couldn’t tell you how they feel. But I thought it was cool that, at least on paper, someone at Honda cared enough to give the coupe sharper handling and that someone else didn’t put the kibosh on it based on production costs.
So it’s still unclear what happens to ILX, even after the Acura updated text in there!
An “Acura” HR-V, probably with a 1.5T and CVT, and a “coupe” roofline, for $35,000 Welcome to 2021.
I’d like to exchange my 2021 for a refund, please. Do you have 1994 available by chance?
Can I do 1992 instead? For some reason I really want the option to buy a new third gen IROC-Z!
I never understood the hate for the current gen sedan styling, I thought it was cool looking without being ugly. The hatch on the other hand… horrid.
That being said, this still looks nice. I hope it’s not as low as the current model. Why do Cvics have super low rooflines/ground clearance? Tall people need to drive too. And I’d rather not scrape my front end entering a steep driveway.
Haters gonna hate. The noisier crowd on the internet does not necessarily translate into a majority opinion, so you can relax a little there. Look at the sales numbers and look at how many you see on the road. Surely all those people don’t think their car is ugly.
I’m with you, I thought the sedan and coupe looked cool, but the hatch was a bit weird. In fact, I liked it so much I bought an Si coupe.
Much better.
I’m not big on the little pug nose there, I think it’d look better smoother.
BUT this is an improvement, and looks like they’re headed back to a mature looking Civic like my favorite generation.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/93/fd/f0/93fdf04b9c028cc32681daba3e6f21e6.jpg
So, basically we have a mini-Accord with a much cleaner front end treatment here. Not a bad thing.
Corporate style = lack of imagination. In 1992 you could tell Prelude from 2-door Accord, from Civic
This might be a controversial take, but I predict that the outgoing ‘video game’ style model is going to become a future classic. It’s one of the boldest designs of an economy compact ever, especially when paired with some of the sharper wheel designs on the sport trims. I rented one a while back, and I was shocked when I realized that I actually enjoyed driving it.
This, meanwhile, is a reversion back to being a satisfactory but boring, functional mini-Accord. Which is fine for sales, but any sense of spirit is gone.
I think we are at 1977 styling wise and most stuff from this era will be regarded as such (Even if power wise we are at a modern golden era).
The phrase “uncluttered design” gives me hope. Recall, that the truly golden era Civics are very clean designs as well.
Besides, I am sure they will toss all the wings and geegaws you want on a type R, Si, or other trim package. It is nice to give the adults in the room an option.
“I think we are at 1977 styling wise and most stuff from this era will be regarded as such….” Well said.
Nose lip.
That part where the hood line extends into the front grille at the emblem or center only.
What’s the deal with Japanese cars and nose lips? That really reads as a Toyota styling cue. The trapazontal grille and general headlight shape also read very Toyota.
Just swap the badge and this wouldn’t look out of place in Toyota’s lineup ten years ago.
Blanding it up won’t hurt sales of the base models. It’ll probably help. I’m curious to see what’ll become of the Type-R though. New isn’t always better in the long run as to “legend cars.” Compare the value of a 1993 Mustang Cobra to a 1994 Mustang Cobra.
I only care about this car if we get another Civic Si with a stick. I want one more stick shift car, and usually I think that’s going to be some kind of older BMW, but the rational side of me wants a newer Si instead.
This is the nail in the Accord’s coffin.
Ok wait wait. Honda is now listening to actual customers and disregarding the infallible ‘styling’ advice of automotive “journalists” who don’t own cars?
Very dangerous step Honda. You should reconsider immediately.
Honda had absolutely no trouble selling the current generation which is still a benchmark in its class 6 years after its reveal, not sure why people rag on the 10th gen’s looks. It’s shook the segment in late 2015. Hondas has always been the more youthful choice, if you want appliance like conservatism get a Jetta or a Corolla.