The wait is over. For the first time in 14 years, buyers in North America will be able to buy a Honda Civic hatchback.
Honda decided to bring back the hatchback as part of the 2017 Civic family for North American customers at a starting price of $19,700 for the LX with a six-speed manual transmission.
The last time North American customers were able to buy the hatchback was in 2003. The 2017 Civic hatchback went on sale Monday.
The new hatchback offers European styling with five-door accessibility. The hatchback is built on the same platform as the sedan and coupe and is available in five trim levels – LX, Sport, EX, EX-L Navi and a new Sport Touring.
The hatchback will come equipped with a 1.5-liter, dual-overhead-cam, injected and turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine. In the LX, EX, EX-L Navi trims, the engine is capable of producing 174 horsepower, and in the Sport and Sport Touring trim levels, the engine is capable of producing 180 horsepower.
The LX and Sport trim levels can come equipped with a six speed manual transmission, while all levels can come equipped with a CVT.
The fuel economy varies depending on transmission and trim level. For example, the LX with a six-speed transmission at a cost of $19,700 gets 30 mpg city, 39 mpg highway and 33 mpg combined. The LX with a CVT at a cost of $20,500 gets slightly better fuel economy at 31 mpg city, 40 mpg highway and 34 mpg combined, Honda indicated.
For the higher end EXL-Navi with a CVT at a cost of $25,300, the fuel economy is 31 mpg city, 40 mpg highway and 34 mpg combined. The Sport Touring, for which Honda hasn’t yet announced a price, gets 30 mpg city, 36 mpg highway and 32 mpg combined.
The new hatchback is designed to offer more cargo room at 25.7 cubic feet with the rear seats up in the LX, EX, EX-L Navi trim levels. Honda also indicated that it has a roomy interior of 97.2 cubic feet with 36 inches for rear seat legroom, which the Japanese automobile marker said is best in its class for room.
Some interior features include an infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated seats, power driver and front-passenger seats and remote engine start.
The Sport Touring level comes with textured aluminum sport pedals, red accented instrument illumination and an upgraded audio system.
Available on the LX, EX and EX-L Navi and standard on the Sport Touring area several safety and driver assisted technologies such as forward collision warning, collision mitigation braking system, lane assist, road departure warning and others.
Check out this related TFLcar video of this car’s prototype debut:
