American Honda Believes Civic Hatchback Will Not Cannibalize Civic Sedan Sales

Not since the sixth-generation Honda Civic of 1996-2000 has American Honda made a hatchback available as a conventional part of the Civic lineup.

Yes, there was the British-built Civic hatchback of 2002-2005, but it was an Si-only model with limited appeal and little connection to the broader Civic lineup.

The new 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback that’s now reaching North American shores — it’s built at the same Swindon, England, plant as the aforementioned Civic Si — is another thing altogether. It’s not merely a two-door hatchback entry into the Civic fold, as the Civic hatch so often was in the distant past. Nor is the new Civic Hatchback exclusively meant to be a performance-oriented hot hatch, though it will form the foundation of North America’s first-ever Civic Type R.

No, the new, turbo-only, four-door Civic Hatchback closely mirrors the upper-trim levels of the established tenth-generation Civic lineup. Presumably, then, the new Civic Hatchback, with all of its flexibility and practicality and tailgate possibilities, will steal sales from the regular Honda Civic sedan and coupe?

Honda says no.

In consumer clinics conducted by American Honda, says spokesperson James Jenkins, “We found customers were specific in wanting a sedan, a coupe, or a hatchback.”

Not only were the potential Civic clients largely convinced by their bodystyle of choice, their desires to have a particular bodystyle crossed out the possibility of considering the other bodystyles.

“A very small percentage were willing to switch over to a different body style when their intention may have been a sedan, for example,” Jenkins told TTAC via email.

On the one hand, Honda’s consequent lack of concern regarding the possibility of cannibalization isn’t surprising. A potential Honda Civic Coupe buyer isn’t going to be enticed by easier rear seat ingress — style is the priority, rear seat occupants won’t frequent the Civic Coupe owner’s car. Similarly, the Honda Civic Hatchback buyer won’t find the allure of a stylish roofline nearly so fetching once he realizes the hatch’s yawning cargo aperture is gone.

As for the Civic Hatchback vs. Civic Sedan conundrum, Honda’s clinic-based belief that the Civic Hatchback won’t simply find its demand from the vast network of Civic Sedan owners is curious if only because the cars share such similar exterior profiles. The Civic Hatchback clearly offers a measure of flexibility missing in the trunked Civic — total interior volume is 12 percent greater in the hatch — but the hatch by no means advertises its distinguishing characteristics. After all, the four-door Civic-with-a-trunk already has a very liftback look.

Put another way, if potential Civic customers are turned off by hatchbackesque styling, wouldn’t they have already been turned off by the sedan’s hatchback styling? And since tens of thousands of buyers every month are willing to accept hatchbackesque styling in the sedan, why wouldn’t they buy the actual hatchback?

Assuming American Honda is correct and the 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback will only add to the Civic lineup’s appeal; that the Civic Hatchback will take a bite out of a market currently held by the Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra GT, Kia Forte, Mazda3, Subaru Impreza, Volkswagen Golf, and Scion iM; then we’re soon to see tremendously healthy Honda Civic sales figures climb even higher.

The Honda Civic is America’s second-best-selling car through the first seven months of 2016. At the current rate of growth, Honda is on track to sell more than 380,000 Civics in calendar year 2016 without help from a hatchback bodystyle. Over the last decade, Honda averaged 304,000 annual Civic sales.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.