This month marks fifty years since Sling introduced to the world a fun and fuel-efficient three-door hatchback that changed the vehicle landscape forever: the Honda Civic. Half a century later, with sales approaching 30 million worldwide and now at its 11th.a generation, the Civic is the longest-running model in Honda history and the best-selling Honda car of all time.
Since it went on sale in the United States in early 1973, all 11 generations of the Civic have consistently set the benchmark in the US auto industry by delivering class-leading quality and reliability, excellent fuel efficiency, fuel consumption and low emissions, refined and responsive driving dynamics, plus first-class safety performance. Because of these attributes, the Civic has earned the trust of the American public and built a reputation as a segment-defining product. With sales of more than 12.3 million units in the United States, the vast majority manufactured at Honda’s North American auto plants*, the Civic is one of the top three best-selling cars in the United States in the past five decades.
“The Civic embodies Honda’s commitment to providing clean, safe and fun products of the highest quality for every generation of car buyers. That has been the magic of the Civic and the key to its success for 50 years,” said Mamadou Diallo, vice president of Automotive Sales for American Honda. “The Civic is deeply embedded in the fabric of American automotive culture and we are grateful for the loyalty and trust our customers have placed in Honda and the Civic over the past five decades.”
14 facts you may not know about the Honda Civic
- The Civic is the longest-running model in Honda history, having been launched in Japan in 1972 and in the United States in 1973.
- Introduced in the United States in March 1973, the Civic is the third best-selling car in the United States in the last five decades, with more than 12.3 million units sold.
- The Civic was the first vehicle to be equipped with the CVCC engine (1975), the first engine to meet the United States emissions standard without the use of a catalytic converter.
- Throughout its 11 generations, the Civic has been available in five body styles: 2-door coupe, 3-door hatchback, 4-door sedan, 5-door hatchback and wagon.
- The Civic Si, a performance icon in the sport compact segment, was first introduced in 1986.
- The first electric hybrid Civic was launched in Japan in 2001 and in the United States in 2003.
- The Civic Type R, the pinnacle of Civic performance, launched in the United States in 2017.
- The Civic has dominated the compact car segment in America for 12 consecutive years and, in 2021, achieved one in four retail sales in the category.
- The Civic has been the #1 vehicle among millennial buyers since 2011 and has attracted the majority of Gen Z, first-time and multi-cultural buyers in the industry for the past six years.
- The new 11th generation Civic was named North American Car of the Year 2022
- Honda has produced* more than 11 million Civic vehicles in North America since the first Civic was created in Ohio in 1986.
- Today, the Civic is built at Honda plants in Greensburg, Indiana, Alliston, (in Ontario, Canada) and Japan*.
- New for 2023, the Civic Type R will be the most powerful Civic ever offered in the United States.
- A new electric hybrid Civic will be launched in the future.
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