I must be crazy, I didn’t buy an Accord for 240,000 yuan but I fell in love with the Civic!

Last week, Dongfeng Honda and Honda China held the 2020 media conference in Sanya, officially announcing the introduction of the domestically produced Civic hatchback. This long-awaited little steel cannon will be officially launched at this year’s Beijing Auto Show. It was unveiled in China and was simultaneously produced in China by Dongfeng Honda. Such explosive news immediately attracted the attention of modified car enthusiasts and Honda fans.

According to a Dongfeng Honda dealer, the starting price of the hatchback version of the Civic is 186,800 yuan, and the top-end version is 242,800 yuan. This price may put many fans away. Of course, some people will say that the power of 1.5T is not enough to make people stupid enough to spend so much money to implement the so-called "faith". If so, then they are really crazy fans. Emotional consumers may say: In the eyes of most people, a car is just a means of transportation... The Golf R costs 400,000, wouldn't it be nice to buy a 5 Series or a Mercedes-Benz E? ?Why isn’t Audi louder than the Volkswagen brand?? Has it affected sales? A 200,000 Civic has 200,000 things, and people who understand it will naturally buy it.

The salesperson also said that as soon as the news of the domestically produced Civic hatchback came out, it attracted a lot of attention from customers. Less than five days before the launch, people in the store had already come to inquire. It can be seen that the hatchback How popular is the version in China? In addition, judging from the current situation, the manufacturer will not free up much production capacity for the hatchback model, which is expected to be around 5,000 units/month. That is, after this car is launched, the number of cars in the store may be tighter than that of the sedan version. Therefore, if orders are really popular after the listing, price increase or waiting in line will be a high probability event. (Oh my God, 240,0010,000-20,000 yuan?!!!∑(?Д?ノ)ノ)

JDM fans: The hatchback Civic is the real Civic with a soul

Civic enjoys the title of Honda's front-wheel drive king. This may come from the "death tape" race between Shoji Shingo driving the Civic EG6 and Fujiwara Takumi in "Initial D", or it may be the Civic TYPE-R's performance on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The "fastest front-wheel drive car record", its rapid track performance defeated supercars that cost millions more than it.

Perhaps in the eyes of Honda or JDM fans, the hatchback version is the real Civic. Compared to fans of the Golf and Focus series, Civic fans may have a stronger "sense of faith." Spending 700,000 yuan to buy a parallel-imported red-headed Civic that comes with foreign companies is unrealistic for most people.

Therefore, it seems understandable that the Civic hatchback version is priced at a maximum of 240,000 yuan. The regular Civic with a similar appearance design and good power performance is enough to meet the needs of most people, but don't forget that there are too many modification kits for the Civic.

The hatchback version of Nu Skin’s compact sedan is not popular. What is the significance of the hatchback version of the Civic?

At that time, the sales volume of the ninth-generation/nine-and-a-half-generation Civic, which had not been significantly changed, was not high in the domestic market, and the SI model was even more popular but failed to meet Honda's original wishes. , in a desperate situation, the introduction of the tenth generation Civic is quite desperate. But judging from the results, Honda made the right bet. Whether it is the "fast" performance of the product, the "big" size, or the various myths held by folk fans, especially the Civic, the viral effect it has achieved has aroused the long-cherished wish of modification enthusiasts.

Less than half a year after its launch, the tenth-generation Civic instantly became the benchmark product for mainstream joint venture compact cars. The mid-term facelift facelift launched by Honda Civic last year, the sporty yellow model has deeply imprinted its unique personality on the Civic, making it well remembered by consumers.

However, judging from the current situation, the timing of the introduction of the Civic hatchback does not seem to be the best time for the market base. Therefore, public opinion will easily raise questions about the market prospects of the Civic Hatchback. The market has proven countless times that the impact of the praise of online circles or the rhythmic praise of stakeholders on the direction of product improvement is often completely separated from or even contradictory to the real needs of offline consumers.

But when we look at it from the standpoint of Honda and Dongfeng Honda, the absolute sales figures of the Civic hatchback are not the only indicator that needs to be valued when introducing this car. The mission of the domestically produced Civic hatchback is to strengthen Honda's label of being technologically advanced and suitable for modification in the field of household cars, strengthen the "C passenger" IP, further expand it to the car series, and expand the influence of the Civic product family name on potential consumers.

You can see many Civic sedans on the street, which have been modified and beautified with decals to imitate Type-R. After the hatchback Civic is launched, the modified car market will be able to open an independent platform for the Civic. This further amplifies the already highly contagious influence of Civic modifications, creating a "herding effect" and subtly influencing the car-buying tendencies of people around them.

Finally, let us take a look at the Civic hatchback!

The appearance of the hatchback version is basically the same as the overseas version. The exciting body surround makes it look more like the Civic Type-R. As for the front face, compared with overseas models, the domestic hatchback concept car also adds a red front lip as a decoration.

The sedan version of the Civic has a sexy waistline design at the rear. After turning into a hatchback, the rear becomes more compact and neat, and a small rear wing is added to connect the "C" shaped taillights on both sides. , the overall shape is eye-catching; the lower rear bumper is also equipped with large air guide holes and a central diffuser on both sides, but what makes fans soar most is the center-mounted dual exhaust layout. The feeling of fighting is overwhelming! As for the wheels, the new car also provides new styles of gray/black wheels, and the brake calipers are also painted in red. The overall look is more "steel-like" than the sedan version.

In terms of power, the new car continues to be equipped with the L15B series 1.5L inline four-cylinder turbocharged engine, which is based on the domestic Civic sedan version. Its maximum horsepower is 177 horsepower and the peak torque is 220 Nm. The hatchback version does not A 1.0T three-cylinder engine version is provided. In terms of transmission system, the engine is matched with a 6-speed manual or CVT continuously variable transmission.

At present, the only manual transmission configuration of the sedan model is the 1.5T entry-level 220TURBO manual version. Among the potential customers of the hatchback version, there are many players who pursue the ultimate driving pleasure. Therefore, we do not rule out the launch of multiple manual transmission models with different configurations after the launch to provide consumers with richer choices. All series come standard with Honda Sensing intelligent driving assistance. The system is not impossible.

Summary: At present, in the domestic compact family car market, which is the largest in size, compared to Toyota, Nissan, American cars, etc., Honda only has one model: Civic (Lingpai/Xiangyu) The low-end ones are not included) are the best-selling ones, which seems rather pitiful. However, the biggest feature of the Civic is that it is the only sports family sedan in its class that can be an absolute best-seller. In the future, the Civic hatchback version can break through the existing market foundation of the Civic sedan, with more extreme features, further promoting the Civic's label, reputation, influence and even sales.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.