LOS ANGELES — Honda is giving one of its core cars -- the Civic -- a reboot that reaches back in time for design cues while accentuating the crouching posture typical of sports sedans.
The interior also has been overhauled to echo the clean, uncluttered lines of earlier generation Civics.
Honda, which revealed a prototype of the 11th-generation compact Civic on streaming platform Twitch late Tuesday, said the car, its top seller, will go on sale in late spring 2021 as a sedan. It will be followed months later by a Civic hatchback, as well as Si and Type R variants.
Honda has discontinued the Civic coupe.
The Civic, a key entry point for the brand for decades, has remained the top-selling compact car this year, with U.S. sales of 200,941 through the third quarter, a decline of 21 percent. Still, U.S. consumers continue to abandon compact cars, mostly in favor of light trucks, with segment volume down 35 percent to 720,719 through the first nine months of the year.
Honda remains committed to cars and appears willing to inject some excitement in the compact segment by showcasing the prototype in a bold new orange color, Solar Flare Pearl, along with a design sketch of the prototype's interior. No mechanical information was provided, although Honda did say there will be an increase in horsepower, in general. Pricing was not announced.
