Over in Turkey, Honda Turkiye A.S. has been informed that the restructuring will see the end of the Civic Sedan in 2021. The local branch “will continue to hold constructive dialogue with Turkish stakeholders during this period,” but don’t get your hopes up for a miracle.
“We have had to take this difficult decision to consult our workforce on how we might prepare our manufacturing network for the future,” said Katsushi Inoue, chief officer for European regional operations. “This has not been taken lightly and we deeply regret how unsettling today’s announcement will be for our people.”
The European headquarters of Honda will continue to be located in the United Kingdom, not that far off from the Formula 1 base in Milton Keynes. The Civic Hatchback, however, could switch production to a facility in North America.
“Part of the reason for this is that the hatch is quite popular,” reports Autoblog.com, adding that 20 percent of North American sales of the Civic are hatchbacks. The Type R, for example, has its engine manufactured in Ohio.
In its tenth generation since 2015, the compact-sized Civic received a mid-cycle refresh for the 2019 model year. The hatchback prototype was introduced at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, and considering the 2021 deadline for Swindon, that’s the year the eleventh generation is expected to launch in the United States.
Honda Canada manufactures the Civic Sedan and CR-V, CVTs are sourced from Russels Point, Ohio and Celaya, Mexico. Whichever way you look at it, North America seems like a sure bet for the next Civic Hatchback.
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