Next-gen Honda Civic ready for reveal

The wraps will come off a prototype version of the 11th-generation Honda Civic in the United States next week as part of a Twitch live-streaming event, showcasing the almost production-ready model ahead of its Australian arrival in 2022.

Taking aim at the top-selling small cars in Australia – Toyota Corolla, Hyundai i30 and Kia Cerato, among others – Honda has teased the new Civic design in a short 16-second video, which you can see below, revealing a few BMW-esque styling cues such as the tail-lights.

But as leaked patent renders confirmed in October, the Mk11 Civic design appears to be a conservative evolution of the current car rather than a radical revolution.

Honda is using videogame streaming service Twitch to launch the new Civic, targeting younger buyers, and claims this is the “first-ever live global debut of a vehicle on a Twitch-branded gaming channel”.

The Japanese brand said the Civic is “the number-one vehicle for young, first-time and multicultural consumers” which is why the company has chosen the gaming medium.

The launch event will also be backed by Reddit and Twitter feeds.

Expect to see a more advanced interior in the new Civic, sporting a digital instrument cluster, a larger central touch-screen display with upgrades in connectivity and useability, along with more safety tech and autonomous driving features.

Dating back to 1972, the Honda Civic is one of Japan’s best-known nameplates and one of the best-selling cars of all time, and while buyers continue to migrate to SUVs, the vehicle is still a crucial global model for Honda.

It’s not yet clear what powertrains will be offered with the new Civic, but expect small turbo-petrol and petrol-electric hybrid units to continue.

The strikingly designed high-performance Civic Type R is also expected to live on as the flagship model in the new Civic range, but as is tradition it will come later in the model’s lifecycle.

The all-new Civic will need to deliver some unique class-first features to fire up buyers and convince them to move away from the Hyundai i30 and Toyota Corolla that currently dominate the category in Australia and overseas.

It won’t be an easy task given that Honda Australia has admitted its national sales in Australia could be cut in half when it heads into uncharted territory from 2021, embracing an all-new retail strategy via an agency sales model.

This will see non-negotiable fixed prices set by the manufacturer, and while some vehicle lines will be culled, it could work in favour of the Civic if Honda gets the package right, as the small car remains one of the brand’s core models.

Stay tuned for more details as the countdown begins to the new Civic’s unveiling, which takes place on November 17 at 6:45pm PST in California (1:45pm November 18, AEST time).