2023 Honda Civic Type R orders ‘overwhelming’

The incoming 2023 Honda Civic Type R will almost certainly be a sell-out success, despite its lofty $72,600 drive-away price tag.

Compared to the previous-generation hot hatch, which was last sold at $54,990 plus on-road costs, the more powerful 235kW Honda Civic Type R is considerably more expensive.

In fact, the new Type R will be one of the most expensive Japanese small cars ever launched in Australia when it rolls into dealerships for final pre-delivery checks from February 2023.

Yet that hasn’t stopped Aussie buyers plonking down $1000 since December 1, 2022, when the order book for the banzai front-drive chirper first opened.

Speaking to carsales, Honda Australia’s product planning chief Ray Gani would not specify how many orders had been taken out of next year’s allocation of 500 cars.

But he described them as “overwhelming” and a clear demonstration that proved Type R pricing was not excessive, as suggested by countless social media commentators.

“That’s the thing – there’s always those comments [about pricing and positioning], but in terms of demand it is coming to fruition,” he said.

“I’m not in a position to comment on the number of orders now but it is a very, very strong amount of orders coming in. It is massive. We are overwhelmed.”

Honda Australia previously confirmed it had more than 4000 expressions of interest for the new Type R, many of which have clearly turned into cash deposits.

Gani said Australia was a “high volume market” for Civic Type R and noted that buyers can track their vehicle through its online ordering process.

Despite having smaller 19-inch alloy wheels compared to its predecessor’s 20-inch rims, the new Type R is both faster on track and a better everyday drive, as our Europe correspondent John Mahoney found during his first drive in Portugal recently.

Hidden beneath the new Type R’s louvred aluminium hood is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol VTEC engine (K20C1) that generates 235kW and 420Nm of torque (+7kW and +20Nm).

It’s not the first time a CTR price tag has raised eyebrows, with the Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition selling for $70,000 in late 2020.

But only 20 of those cars came to Australia, and the new $72,600 Civic Type R is a full-time model.

It stands to reason that a special-edition Honda Civic Type R could go close to $100,000 in future, rivalling the Mercedes-AMG A 45 S as a six-figure scorcher.

Stay tuned for our first Aussie drive of the new Civic Type R in the coming weeks.

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