SPY PICS: Honda Civic Type R for Oz spotted at the 'Ring

Honda Australia desperately wants an affordable halo car, in the form of the Civic Type R, as we reported back in June.

But demand outside Australia for the ninth-generation Type R, which only went on sale earlier this year, is expected to end any hope we'll see that model here. Instead, Honda Australia director Stephen Collins hinted four months ago, we'll skip the current model and wait for the car pictured here – the 10th generation Civic Type R.

Mainstream Civic models are expected to launch in 10th-generation guise late next year, and demand for the current Type R is not expected to ease before then. Collins has said that Honda Australia won't supply a halo car that's actually older than the volume-selling models in the same range.

This car in the pictures is left-hand drive, but Honda's UK base at Swindon has been the traditional development COE for the Civic hatch, so the Type R in the new generation will definitely be available in right-hand drive. Only the question of supply will thwart Australia seeing the new Type R here.

The next Civic will be a global design – with hatch and sedan developed jointly by Honda outposts across the world – and its footprint will be larger, in part to fill the vacuum left by the Accord Euro.