The U.S. Is Finally Getting The Euro Civic Hatch

2016 Honda Civic Type R (Credit: Honda)

Honda fans in the United States can rejoice, because what was thought to be impossible not long ago is actually happening. The European Civic hatchback is finally coming stateside, thanks to poor demand on the other side of the pond. Things have been pretty dismal in Europe, which has caused Honda to cut production of the model line from 250,000 a year to only 100,000.

The plan is to bring multiple five-door Honda Civic models to the United States. It’s happening quickly, with the first ones landing in 2016.

The really great news is that with the hatchback Civics coming to America, the all-new Type R is likely included. That’s the same front-wheel-drive car that threw down on the Nurburgring Nordschleife with the incredible time of 7:50.63. There will always be doubters of the car’s abilities, but keep in mind that time is only 30 seconds behind what the Porsche 911 GT3 logged and 10 seconds off the time for the Cayman GT4.

There’s been considerable talk lately inside of Honda that it needs to pick up its performance game in just about every way possible. Considering that in the past the company produced technological wonders like the S2000 and Integra Type R, it certainly has the capability.

In related news, Honda is also planning to rework the CR-Z and make it the car it always should have been. The hybrid powertrain is going away, replaced by a turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, which pretty much guarantees it will actually be fun to drive.

Back to the Civic hatchback, Honda has plans to bring about 30,000 to 40,000 units to the United States every year. Many of them will likely be more economical models, like what’s already sold in the UK, but there’s also a possibility that Honda could make a five-door Si model for the U.S. That one is purely speculation, but it’s being floated around right now. The Type R isn’t a lock either, but if everyone lets Honda know how much they really want it, surely some kind of an arrangement can be made.