You have to love a morale-building speech from the boss! Honda chief Takanobu Ito used such a speech to confirm the next Civic Type R is under development.
That’s great news for hot hatch fans as the current British-built Type R still ranks in Car Showroom’s current ‘Top 5 Hot Hatches’ despite some remarkable new additions from Ford and Renault.
In fact Ito-San went further, claiming the all-new Honda Civic Type R will be the fastest front-wheel-drive hot hatch around Germany’s Nurburgring race circuit. That would require a lap time better than 8:08mins – the current hot hatch benchmark held by Renault’s Megane RS 265.
So let the speculation commence…
Turbocharged, naturally aspirated, maybe a hybrid? Whatever the format the all-new Honda Civic Type R has big shows to fill and Car Showroom can’t wait to get some seat time.
Mr Ito also let slip that Honda has a new roadster in the pipeline – not the all-new NSX sports car but a lower-priced, high-volume model.
Of course Honda showed the futuristic EV-STER roadster at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show – and unusually for Honda it was rear-wheel-drive . Like many of the recent concepts from the Japanese manufacturers, the Honda EV-STER looked almost production-ready when we checked it out, so maybe, just maybe…
Turning to more immediate debuts, the Honda chief confirmed three to look out for.
First-up at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, the all-new Acura RLX will be launched. If the status quo remains, this car will be a pointer to the all-new Honda Legend which is due in Australia next year.
On-track for a 2103 launch is the all-new Honda Jazz compact. This will be a vital car for Honda Australia as it continues to climb back from sales lost last year through production disruptions brought about by the Japanese earthquake/tsunami and Thailand floods.
And in another surprise, Ito-San revealed an all-new compact SUV based on the Honda Jazz platform is due in 2014 – we’d out our money on that arriving early in the year at the Detroit Auto Show, although Honda might hold it back until the Tokyo Motor Show.
