Honda denied entry-level Civic

Honda Australia has admitted the starting price of $22,390 plus on-road costs for the new 10th generation Civic Hatch being launched in Adelaide today doesn’t match key rivals.

The company hoped to launch and promote its vital small car with an enticing price for a manual version of the new entry-level VTi model.

But the plan hit a road block when Honda’s Thai manufacturing plant could only supply a CVT automatic transmission. The previous Civic Hatch, sourced from the company’s British factory, was available with a manual.

So, in the field of key small car models, the 10th generation Honda joins only the Subaru Impreza in being offered exclusively with an automatic transmission. Pricing for the popular Toyota Corolla Ascent starts at $20,190 and the Mazda3 Neo carries a $20,490 price sticker, while the just-launched all-new Hyundai i30 kicks-off at $20,950.

The latest Civic Hatch lobs into the super competitive small car segment and is a key plank in Honda Australia’s plans to claw back from disastrous sales slumps in recent years as it targets an annual total comfortably exceeding 40,000 vehicles and growing.

You can read our pricing and equipment story here  and our first review from the international launch in Europe here.

Honda Australia has the Civic penciled-in for 1500 sales per month – 900 for the 10th generation hatchback model and 600 for the sedan version which was launched last year. The Civic will be the company’s biggest-selling model until the all-new CRV SUV arrives in the third quarter of this year.

But Honda Australia director Stephen Collins acknowledged a manual VTi, with a starting price to advertise closer to the $20,000 mark, would have helped stir showroom traffic, even if the model’s sales were modest.

“Would you prefer one [a manual price-point]? Of course you probably would,” conceded Collins. “But it’s not the be-all and end-all to success.

“If we had the option we would have done it for sure.”

Collins pointed out the Civic sedan and HR-V small SUV were successful without an entry-level manual option.

“I don’t think it makes a significant impact to your volume or your share, but clearly a lot of the [HR-V] competitors have a manual price-point and they sell in small numbers.”

Conversely, Collins revealed it was purely Honda Australia’s decision to stick with the carry-over 1.8-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine, rather than move to the new 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder for the entry-level Civic VTi and VTi-S grades.

The upper spec VTi-L, RS and VTi-LX get a new generation 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine which debuted in the Civic sedan and will also appear in the new CR-V.

“It’s totally our call and it’s balancing all the factors of cost and what the customers want,” Collins said.

“We think in the entry to mid-grade that’s [1.8] a very good performing engine.

“I know it’s been around for a while, but in terms of performance and economy, for people who buy those cars, it’s more than adequate.

“So we think it balances all of those factors.”

Collins also batted back comments from motoring.com.au readers - posted when the Civic Hatch pricing was announced - who queried why the new Civic hatch wasn’t cheaper than its UK-sourced predecessor.

“We are adding a lot more gear when you compare apples with apples and I think that makes it [the new Civic] a much bigger player and a much better value proposition in that segment.

“It starts at $24,990 drive-away and we think for the VTi that is a very compelling package, and as you go up the range the value stacks up for the price.”

The new auto Civic Hatch VTi is $240 more expensive (before on-roads) than the old VTi-S manual.

>> Watch out for our first local drive review of the new Civic Hatch from Thursday afternoon around 3pm.