SL Honda had no idea when the new civic hybrid would appear 'maybe next year' he said. Doubt it, but never know. All new civic is very good looking. Here's the EX - Almost an optical illusion with the car - it looks stretched out and longer. It could almost fool you for being a midsize car. When Civic come full on line, they will keep the top small sedan spot along with Corolla.
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5 Column 6 Column 7 Column 8 Column 9 Column 10 Column 11 Column 12 0 Month Year to Date 1 Make and Model April 2011 April 2010 DSR* % Change April 2011 April 2010 DSR* % Change 2 Honda Civic 26 777[/right] 25 042[/right] +3.0% 91 745[/right] 78 669[/right] +14.3% 3 Chevrolet Cruze 25 160[/right] n/a n/a 75 365[/right] n/a n/a 4 Toyota Corolla 24 215[/right] 27 932[/right] -16.5% 100 890[/right] 91 672[/right] +7.9% 5 Hyundai Elantra 22 100[/right] 9 657[/right] +120.4% 63 303[/right] 33 538[/right] +85.0% 6 Ford Focus 17 265[/right] 14 107[/right] +17.9% 54 336[/right] 57 704[/right] -7.7% I can see the Civic retaining top spot for a while, but if Hyundai's reputation holds up then the only reason I can for them to stop climbing the table is manufacturing capacity. Also note that Ford is still selling the old Focus.
Elantra is a lot more limited line than Civic which has sedan, coupe, Si sedan, Si coupe, natural gas, HF and hybrid. I guess Elantra makes up some difference with their low price and the touring hatchback.
I expect the vast majority of the sales is just the standard Civic sedan. Civic sales in the table include the feeble HCH sales. I don't see how the new HCH is going to sell any better in the USA. It's still rated worse than the Prius, it's still more expensive than the Prius and you still can't fold the rear seat down. The new HF is just another one of those desperate efforts to claim 40mpg highway ratings. Ford are doing the same with the Focus. GM are doing the same thing with the Cruze Eco MT, although they did an extremely good job of it. Having a 50-state GX could provide a boost to the Civic, although it is $25,000 and has no trunk space. There will be an Elantra Coupe early next year. The Touring is also going to be updated (it's really a different car) and will change from a wagon to a hatchback. They're also going to release the Veloster. The improvements to the Civic should keep it comfortably at number 1, but with reliability improving everywhere and the new Focus due it'll make it hard for Honda to maintain a sales lead and their historic high margins. The biggest pressure is on the Corolla. Like many Toyotas it's desperately needing a refresh.
