As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Honda announced today that they will stop selling the iconic Civic in Japan, as soon as inventories run out because of the decreasing demand in past years, due to consumers shifting to multipurpose vehicles and subcompact cars such as the Honda Fit.
Domestic sales of the compact hybrid sedan will therefore stop in December, following the decision made by the Japanese manufacturer to stop selling the gasoline-engine version back in August of this year. The Civic will still be sold in North America, Europe and other markets, as demand remains high, but Honda moved out only 9 000 of them in the domestic market in 2009, while the model's global sales totaled 609 000 units.
Honda introduced the Civic in 1972 , helping the company to expand worldwide and become the third car manufacturer by volume today. Sales of the Civic in Japan reached their largest annual volume of 177 000 vehicles in 1975, accounting for 71% of the company's overall domestic sales that year.
Such a decision is very unlikely to be made in other markets, but today's announcement raises some questions about the future of bigger automobiles around the world with the emergence of hybrids, electric cars and subcompact cars in markets such as North America, where gas economy is becoming more and more important and with these cars really starting to make a place for themselves.
Domestic sales of the compact hybrid sedan will therefore stop in December, following the decision made by the Japanese manufacturer to stop selling the gasoline-engine version back in August of this year. The Civic will still be sold in North America, Europe and other markets, as demand remains high, but Honda moved out only 9 000 of them in the domestic market in 2009, while the model's global sales totaled 609 000 units.
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| Photo: Honda |
Honda introduced the Civic in 1972 , helping the company to expand worldwide and become the third car manufacturer by volume today. Sales of the Civic in Japan reached their largest annual volume of 177 000 vehicles in 1975, accounting for 71% of the company's overall domestic sales that year.
Such a decision is very unlikely to be made in other markets, but today's announcement raises some questions about the future of bigger automobiles around the world with the emergence of hybrids, electric cars and subcompact cars in markets such as North America, where gas economy is becoming more and more important and with these cars really starting to make a place for themselves.