The 2023 Honda Civic Type R is out and bold in the wild, coming with a fresh design and a more powerful power unit. While those changes make the model more exciting, customers have to hold their horses as Honda announced a production delay in its Japanese plants.
Honda Civic Type R
According to the Japanese automaker, the next-gen Honda Civic Type R FL5 now has an estimated delivery time of more than half a year. Honda also confirmed that it will limit the production of the hot hatch to 400 units only per month, translating to around 4,800 units per year.
For the most part, the pandemic, semiconductor shortages, and unpredictable overseas situations are the causes of the production delay. This will also affect the production of other Honda models manufactured at the Suzuka and Saitama plants, such as the CR-V, Honda e, and the brand’s N series.
Models such as the Honda e are affected by the production delay as well
Many buyers who placed a reservation would have to wait until next year before getting their hands behind the most powerful Civic Type R yet. The Japanese hot hatch still retains the 2.0-liter K20C1 turbocharged VTEC engine, which is paired with a 6-speed manual transmission as standard.
But the power unit for the JDM-spec model has been tweaked to make 325 horsepower and 420 Nm of torque. Meanwhile, the US-spec Civic Type R is getting 315 horsepower only with the same amount of torque.
“We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your orders and consideration of our products. We will do our best to deliver the vehicle to the customer as soon as possible, so we appreciate your understanding,” said Honda in a press release (translated from Japanese to English).
Some new units won't arrive until next year
With all that being said, the arrival of the 2023 Honda Civic Type R on our shores could take quite some time. The latest from Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) is the FK8's discontinuation from the lineup. We are still waiting for an official announcement as to whether the new one will come locally or if the model has reached its end line.
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