[RobbJK88]

Ok I'm a huge civic fan but didn't Honda learn from the accord crosstour that it didn't sell so my question is why cant the civic get a normal hatchback shape because the spy photos show more of a lift back design than conventional hatch in other renderings i saw from honda

These pictures are of test mules pieced together from various cars, and the first one in the thread is a sedan, not a hatch. We don't really know what the hatch will look like other than it will share the front end with the coupe and sedan.

Judging by honda's european hatchback civics from the past 2 cycles we could see a similar shape to those with the split rear windows. OR. Honda could surprise us and go with a more traditional hatch rear. We don't really know. Personally i like the backs of the euro civic hatches both the current and previous gen. I like the split rear window and more sloped roof and back end. But at this point it's kind of up in the air what honda will actually do with the hatch.

 

[RobbJK88]

oh ok well lets hope it's a conventional hatch especially if they want to make an r version

The biggest deciding factors in that is what honda thinks will sell in europe and asia. Because this is a global car now it has to have very wide appeal. The coupe and sedan only really have to appeal to the Americas. But the hatch has a much wider audience.

It won't be a liftback look, it'll definitely be a more traditional hatch design, but my guess is that it'll still have a down sloping roofline. Imagine lifting the coupe trunk and putting a window below the headlight bar, and i think that'd be a good idea of what we can expect to see.

 

[RobbJK88]

Plus side to the hatch is with it doing well in the markets its already in and have been for a while, it probably gave them some justifiable reason to plan to off load some to the american market, acting as a great way to 'test the waters'

Definitely, by importing a somewhat limited number of hatches from europe where they know they'll sell they aren't taking as big a financial risk.

Granted if (and thats a big IF) the hatch does as well as the coupe and sedan variants they could then move production here to help boost inventory. Its a smart strategy to "test the waters" like you mentioned.

I also know that compared to its direct competition in europe the civic doesn't sell nearly as well as it does here by comparison. So i wonder if that's incentive to change up what they've been doing with the civic hatch and go with a more traditional look (like the golf and others) instead of doing the super sloped double window treatment. (which i personally love)

 

[RobbJK88]

I would definitely rather see Honda stick to their current split rear window design. It makes the car have a more sleek profile and look less minivan (my one gripe with the fit). Loved the last gen euro civic 3 door hatch (only the 5 door made it to the current gen).

Not to mention the split rear window would work perfectly with a solid rear taillight bar similar to the one on the 10th coupe.

 

[RobbJK88]

Those were the days.

These days a hatch Honda would come out with wont even be close to what those were like.

With how cheap those 90's hatches and their parts can be had for it'll make for a nice side project.

I still have a soft spot for my first car, my 95 Civic sedan. It wasn't fast and it was loud as ****, but it hugged the corners, was super reliable (over 200k miles) and had great MPG. (better than some of my newer ones at times).

I always wanted a 91-95 coupe or hatch, those were the best looking.

 

[RobbJK88]

Given what we have seen in these spy shots, is it possible that the next-gen hatchback will be less of a traditional hatchback, and more like what Audi did with the RS7?

I don't know... i don't think so. The sedan and coupe both already have that fastback design to them. The big draw of a hatch is the increased storage space, so knowing honda it'll be more traditional (even if they do the split rear window thing again).

I don't feel like a fastback hatch like audi has really warrants buying one over the sedan when the cargo area wouldn't be really any larger.

 

[RobbJK88]

I feel like people are buying them more for how they look than for the bit more in storage they have going on.

They might be buying them in the luxury category for the looks. But mainstream car sales are alot different. Lux cars are all about unnecessary opulence and outlandish design. Mainstream car buyers usually are looking for the biggest bang for their buck. Specifically the hatch segment where they want the fuel economy and possibly sportiness of a car but with the cargo space of a CUV or van. And just look at the fit. It easily sacrifices being the best looking in the class to have best in class storage and versatility. I don't see honda approaching the civic any differently, especially when the hatch market is so competitive in europe.

A less versatile hatch that emphasizes looks and profile might fly here in the states, but not in europe. And that's still going to be the civic hatch's biggest market.

 

[RobbJK88]

I only mentioned it because of what the supposed hatchback looks like in the spy photos that we have. Everything you guys are saying makes sense, but the spy photos just don't show a traditional hatchback shape. It looks different and more coupe or sedan- like.

Thats because these spy shots are some of the oldest ones we have and they've already been debunked as a sedan. It just had more camo on it than the other sedans it was testing with. The spy shots aren't of the hatch. As far as we know they don't even have a solid production version this early on hence why we've only seen the mule that was a pieced together ILX and Euro Civic hatch.

Considering it took up to 6 months before official release to see testers running around of the sedan and coupe we probably won't see a solid hatch testing until later next year closer to its debut.