2017 Civic Hatchback Hitting North America First

8740 Views 17 Replies 9 Participants Last post by RobbJK88, Aug 5, 2016

Civic X News

Discussion Starter · Mar 18, 2016

North Americans are probably used to getting the new models after they have already been launched in Europe, but this time you guys across the pond will be getting the 2017 Civic Hatchback first.

Honda has been building cars in the U.K. for a long time and the Swindon factory can crank out 250,000 cars a year, but sales in Europe has gone down so the factory’s output has been reduced to about 100,000 units annually. By bringing the hatchback to North America, Honda is putting that excess capacity to good use. They plan to produce 30,000-40,000 Civic hatchbacks each year for the North America market and the shipping of these hatchbacks are set to start in the second half of this year.

North America hasn’t seen a Honda Civic hatchback since 2003 and now that the newest hatch is hitting NA shores, maybe the Si and Type R will follow. The new Civic Type R is based on the European hatchback and before Honda announced its availability in NA last year, we were told that NA wouldn’t be getting the performance model because the hatch body style wasn’t offered. Now that the five-door model is making its way to North America shores, maybe the Type R will makes its way there too.

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1 - 18 of 18 Posts

RedCivicTouringMA

· #2 · Mar 18, 2016

Very excited for this! I love hatchbacks, I only bought a sedan because I got so much bang for the buck in the Civic Touring it was impossible to say no.
Which will make it an easy no brainer for a hatchback lover to get into the new Civic HB. Now if they give me a 6spd manual transmission in the HB? I will be one VERY happy lady

4Tires

· #3 · Mar 21, 2016

I understand the need for Civic to use the excess production capacity but I thought Honda would release it in Europe first. Heard they're big on hatchbacks over there.

Not that I'm complaining. I want to see the hatchback in person as soon as possible before making a decision on which civic model to go for.

Reactions: 1

Civil

· #4 · Mar 22, 2016

That's great news. I think a lot of people were impatient and looking at other options because the hatchback was going to be released a few years down the road. Now many will not find it so hard to wait. I take this as definite good news.

Chitown Drifter

· #5 · Mar 22, 2016

I've been playing the waiting game for a couple years now, since I've been itching to replace the Honda Fit Sport 5MT I bought new in January 2007. It has 114k miles and is running fine, but I go on several long road trips every year and I really want a more refined highway cruiser that still gets great fuel economy, is fun to drive, and has the practicality of a hatchback.

The new VW Golf caught my eye when it came out in 2015, then I decided to wait for the Carplay tech feature in the 2016 model. Then this new Civic came along with the promise of a hatchback, so I'm waiting. Just recently I heard the other two cars in the running (Mazda3 & Ford Focus) will be redesigned for 2018.

Since my little Fit continues to be reliable & economical I'm contemplating waiting until the 2018 models come out -- but what will be the latest & greatest new thing just around the corner 15 months from now?

Some time this year I will test drive these cars, and if I really fall in love with one of them I'll probably take the plunge. My experience with the Fit has earned Honda some loyalty.

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4Tires

· #6 · Mar 23, 2016

It's a lot of waiting with so many new models bombarding us but if you like it, go for it.
I was originally going for the coupe but after seeing the hatchback, I may want one of those instead. Good thing NA is getting it first because I want to test all three before deciding.

At least I know I want a Honda so that narrowed it down.

Reactions: 1

5TAR

· #7 · Mar 23, 2016

Chitown Drifter said:
I've been playing the waiting game for a couple years now, since I've been itching to replace the Honda Fit Sport 5MT I bought new in January 2007. It has 114k miles and is running fine, but I go on several long road trips every year and I really want a more refined highway cruiser that still gets great fuel economy, is fun to drive, and has the practicality of a hatchback.

The new VW Golf caught my eye when it came out in 2015, then I decided to wait for the Carplay tech feature in the 2016 model. Then this new Civic came along with the promise of a hatchback, so I'm waiting. Just recently I heard the other two cars in the running (Mazda3 & Ford Focus) will be redesigned for 2018.

Since my little Fit continues to be reliable & economical I'm contemplating waiting until the 2018 models come out -- but what will be the latest & greatest new thing just around the corner 15 months from now?

Some time this year I will test drive these cars, and if I really fall in love with one of them I'll probably take the plunge. My experience with the Fit has earned Honda some loyalty.

Looking forward to that since that type of cross comparison is what interests me a lot since you'll be surprised to find out that a lot of people are in the same boat, open to such a wide range of vehicles.

Civil

· #8 · Mar 23, 2016

I'm hoping that the hatchback's early arrival in North America means that the Type R will be coming much sooner than we had previously thought as well.

4Tires

· #9 · Mar 24, 2016

Not sure about sooner since Honda hasn't unveiled it yet but we could see the Type R on NA shores now that we're getting the regular hatchback. I think Europe may see the Type R on showroom floors before us since they have been Honda's hot hatch market for so long.

Waiting is fine for most as long as we still get the Type R in the end.

Civil

· #10 · Mar 24, 2016

It's just right now other companies have hot hatches competing in NA. Maybe Honda sees that they need to get in on the game sooner than later.

go cart

· #11 · Jul 23, 2016

Automotive Aerodynamics Ep 6 : Honda civic hatchback. Grays Garage 16

o you tube
Addresses questions I had about two spoilers, but on the 5th gen., so not exactly .
The GG model has a taped smooth roof spoiler, where as the 10 g is open.
Yes the top spoiler reduces lift and therefor drag. The mid spoiler / tail light bar. keeps the flow separated, less important but snazzy looking.

RobbJK88

· #12 · Aug 3, 2016

2

Since nobody has posted about it yet on this forum.... pics of the totally uncovered hatch on a truck. Enjoy!

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B20Vtec

· #13 · Aug 3, 2016

That rear diffusor looks different from the usual rear end that we see ? Or am I just not looking at it properly

RobbJK88

· #14 · Aug 4, 2016

B20Vtec said:
That rear diffusor looks different from the usual rear end that we see ? Or am I just not looking at it properly

The hatches were designed to be more "sporty" than the coupe/sedan (personal opinions abound, as i prefer the more mature look of the coupe/sedan fake vents) but yes, the hatch shares its front bumper with what looks like the Si bumper seen in recent spy shots and the back end is totally unique to the hatch (bigger fake vents, revised back bumper/diffuser).

B20Vtec

· #15 · Aug 4, 2016

Ohh okay I see that, yea I also do prefer the look of the coupe/sedan over the hatch. The fake vents on the hatch look huge.

4Tires

· #16 · Aug 5, 2016

Didn't see those spy shots until now. I actually prefer the larger vents even if they are fake, they just give the front and rear a sportier look and I assume it has more cargo space than the sedan and coupe. Where are these hatchbacks being shipped to?

B20Vtec

· #17 · Aug 5, 2016

It'll definitely have more cargo room, but I'm also curious as to where they're headed as well..

RobbJK88

· #18 · Aug 5, 2016

According to the other forum the cars were being shipped to US and Canada. (UK has to wait a bit longer than we do to get the hatch).

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