Honda Civic.
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There has been some speculation lately about the next-generation Honda Civic, since the current model came out in June 2021.
It is still early to know anything, but a badly needed design improvement is probably in the cards. Many have noticed the Civic is only really new with every other generation. The 9th generation was basically a sad copy of the much more interesting and modern, 8th generation. As well as current model is just not as good-looking as the previous one. Following that logic, the next one could be quite nice and much more modern than what we have now.
Honda has also recently come up with really nice designs like the Prologue EV or the 2026 Passport. If the trend lasts a couple of years we could see a great-looking Civic as well.
I personally think the current generation was a huge step back from the previous design, and it never looked good. The 2025 “facelift’ doesn’t help either. While it is truly an excellent car, there is no reason for it to look so bad. Sales went down 49% in 2022 compared to the previous year. They have since picked up, but have never reached the numbers of the previous generation.
The 2025 Civic Hybrid is still probably one of the best choices for a compact sedan in the US. Especially as a hatchback. A few weird things are still missing like a seat height adjustment for the passenger or USB plugs for the rear seats. But in general, it is excellent. What it really deserves is a much nicer design.
The illustration above isn’t perfect, but it’s at least an idea of what a modern Honda Civic could look like…
Too nice to be a Honda
The everyother generation skip is real. This probably won’t be a popular opinion, but I’m hoping Honda gets over their need to create the illusion of RWD by extended the dash to axel ratio in the Civic and Accord. Its a waste of space, and was never the problem. Good designs were the problem.
What I’m hoping is Honda will return the Civic to a more cab forward modern look. Despite all the internet complaining about the 9th gen, it brought some tech updates in engine and controls, and a longer wheelbase with cab forward elements. I bought one, being a poor graduate student, and it was a bulletproof tho unexciting car that delivered on mileage and was CHEAP to own. It was designed afterall in the post 2008/2009 market crash era. More importantly, it was easy to get in and out of, its design aged well, and they used paint that didn’t fall off the car. That’s not true for a lot of more contemporary cars, like the new Civic which is also not so cheap to own. I’m sure the new Civic drives better, but its lost some essential Honda-ness in the process.
Lastly, Honda used to provide good seats, and that has really fallen off as they’ve decontented over the last two gens. They were adjustable, just manual in lower trims even for height and lumbar, but were electric in higher trims. I would like to see that return, along with better quality cloth options for seating surfaces in the mid and lower trims.