Honda April 2017 Sales Down 7.0% with 138,386 Vehicles sold + 17 Civic Hatch Review

Honda CUV sales make April noteworthy.

Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – May 2, 2017

2017 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hatchback w/ the 180 hp – on 91 octane fuel - and 162 lb-ft of torque 1.5L Turbo mated to a wide ratio CVT - $29,135 to start incl. the $835 D&H charge provides owners a 30/36 mpgUS city/highway rating.

The 180 hp and 177 lb-ft. of torque 1.5L turbo diesel in the Sport trim hatchback provides owners with a 30/39 mpgUS city/highway rating.

By comparison, the slightly less powerful - on 87 octane gasoline - 174 hp and 162 lb. ft. of torque 1.5L Turbo mated to the wide ratio CVT in the much more aerodynamic sedan provides a higher 32/42 mpgUS city/highway rating.

This week's ride is courtesy of Honda in the form of the eye catching Silver Metallic 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback that is almost a stealth compact fighter in the late evening dark overcast skies over the Pacific across much of Southern California this week. Remember the first hint that we would receive one was from the Geneva Auto Show early last spring?

2017 Honda Civic Hatch shows its face in Geneva

The 2017 Civic Hatchback joins the 2016 North American Car of the Year – the Civic Sedan, but with five-door utility while keeping the Civic sedans superb driving dynamics and Honda’s super-efficient and powerful direct-injected and turbo charged 1.5L I4 as spelled out above.

The all-new for the U.S. Civic Hatchback provides owners with 97.2/25.7 cu. ft. of passenger/cargo volume in the LX and Sport w/out the Power Sunroof and 94.8/22.8 cu. ft. of passenger/cargo volume in EX, EX-L Navi, and Sport Touring w/ the Power Sunroof. This compares very favorably to the sedan with its 97.8/15.1 cu. ft. and 95.0/15.1 cu. ft. as an LX w/out the power roof and the EX, EX-T, EX-L, and Touring with.

2017 Honda Civic Hatch


Deep enough for large suit cases and tall enough to allow the hatch to close with the same.​

With the rear seats folded down, the Civic Hatch offers an excellent 46.2 cu. ft. of cargo volume. This is in the compact CUV cargo volume territory without having to drive a compact CUV!

The great looking 2016 Honda Civic is easily beating its competitors in the hotly contested retail sales compact segment and the hatch only adds to its sales prowess as seen in the April 2017 sales report below.

2017 Honda Civic Hatch

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Trims

The 2017 Honda Civic Hatch is available in LX, Sport, EX, EX-L, and Sport Touring trims and all are equipped with the 1.5L turbo I4 engine. What is really interesting is that the CVT will be available on all trims and the 6-speed MT will be available on the LX and Sport trims.

The CVT equipped Civic Hatch is expected to receive a 31/40/34 mpg city/highway/combined rating. Honda did not report any EPA results for the stick and they added the adjective “performance” before the 6-speed MT so expect the BS short ratios and shifting between 1st and 6th before 32 mph.

In any case, in our experience with Honda sticks, they are more efficient despite the short ratios Honda equips all of them with.

Available on most trims (and standard on the Sport Touring we are driving) is the Honda Sensing suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies, which includes Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Forward Collision Warning (FCW) integrated with CMBS, Lane Keeping Assist (LKAS), Road Departure Mitigation (RDM), Lane Departure Warning integrated with RDM and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Low-Speed Follow. Other available features include Honda Display Audio with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (EX and above trims), heated front seats and heated side mirrors, power driver and front-passenger seats, remote engine start and more.

The Civic Hatch Sport Touring trim includes Honda Sensing, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, LED headlamps, rear seat heaters standard.

2017 Honda Civic Hatch

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The 2017 Civic Hatchback is exclusively manufactured by Honda of the UK Manufacturing in its Swindon, UK plant.

2017 Honda Civic Hatch First Drive

To begin, I saw two 10th gen Civic owners eyeballing the really sharp looking Polished Metal Metallic – matte gray - hatch as they were paralleling me in very heavy rush hour traffic on the 405/5 corridor between LAX and Carlsbad, Calif. This vehicle incorporates the capless refueling system so I am using Carcus’ own 1.5L Turbo equipped sedan aFCD offset detail for the fuel economy calibration going forward.

While I left LAX early enough, I had a meeting in one of the LA suburbs requiring over 5-miles of heavy light to light driving before getting back on the 405 after 04:00 pm. Meaning right into the heart of the worst traffic in the country.

And yet the fully loaded 30/36 mpg rated 17 Civic Hatch in Sport Touring Trim proved itself worthy.

58.5 mpg over 93.0 miles indicated - 94.6 mi actual. .9915 * aFCD=Actual mpg or 58.0 mpgUS actual.​

Without the city excursion, I am sure the Civic Hatch with the CVT would have allowed a low 60s result. Not quite the sedans low 70 mpg result but almost double its 32 mpg combined rating gives it an A in my book.

I am heading out in just a few minutes to collect the Speed vs FE data so expect that tomorrow.

Another cool thing I noticed is how the Civic engineers were designing the lower front air dam to be higher than the average curb. I was quite surprised by this actually.

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More detail later…

Honda April 2017 Sales Overview

Honda’s April 2017 U.S. sales of 138,386 were down 7.0 percent below the 148,829 sold in April of 2016. On a daily selling rate basis, sales were off 3.4 percent.

YTD sales of 503,679 vehicles was down 0.6 percent from the 506,532 sold through the same period of 2016. On a YTD DSR basis, the iconic Japanese Automakers results were 0.4 percent higher.

Honda's own sales of 124,254 slipped 6.3 percent from the 132,623 sold in April of 2016. On a DSR basis, sales were off 2.7 percent.

Acura sales of 14,132 vehicles were off 12.8 percent from the 16,206 sold in April of 2016. On a DSR basis, sales were off 9.4 percent.

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The Honda CR-V and HR-V continue to set sales records as both achieved record April sales.

HR-V sales of 8,527 were up 22.4 percent over the 6,969 sold in April of 2016. YTD sales of 28,223 were up 25.5 percent over the 22,484 sold through the same period of 2016.

Besides the always Top 3 Domestic Pickup trucks in the U.S. monthly sales tally, Honda’s CR-V climbed to 4th as the bestselling Car or CUV in America. The CR-V achieved sales of 32,671 in April, up 13.0 percent over the 28,913 sold in April of 2016. On a DSR basis, sales were up 17.3 percent. YTD sales of 126,728 are up an even stronger 26.6 percent over the 100,101 sold through the same period of 2016. On YTD DSR basis, sales were up 27.9 percent.

Civic achieved monthly sales of 31,211 vehicles, Civic was easily the best-selling passenger car in America on a retail basis for the first four months of 2017

The U.S. Automobile April 2017 vs. April 2016 Market Share results.

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It was a tough month for GM in terms of their profit center(s) with the Silverado, Sierra, Colorado, and Canyon being outsold by the F-Series. Notice the RAM. For the second month in a row it outsold the Silverado. The Accord broke back into the Top 10 with the Altima falling off.

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Notice the highly regarded 2017 Toyota Prius Prime outsold the Volt for the first time and took the top spot in the electric segment.

Kia’s Niro achieved sales of 2,939 sold and its sales volume is still climbing with another 235 units added from last month’s 2,704 sold.

U.S. April 2017 Sales vs. April 2016 Sales Ranks and Results for the top 18 Automobile Manufacturers

GM April 2017 Sales Down 5.8% with 244,406 Vehicles sold
Ford April 2017 Sales Down 7.2% with 214,695 Vehicles sold
Toyota April 2017 Sales Down 4.4% with 201,926 Vehicles sold
FCA April 2017 Sales Down 6.6% with 177,441 Vehicles sold
Honda April 2017 Sales Down 7.0% with 138,386 Vehicles sold
Nissan April 2017 Sales Down 1.5% with 121,998 Vehicles sold
Hyundai April 2017 Sales were up 1.3% with 63,050 Vehicles sold
Kia April 2017 Sales Down 5.6% with 53,358 Vehicles sold
Subaru April 2017 Sales Up 3.9% with 52,368 Vehicles sold
Mercedes-Benz April 2017 Sales Down 8.7% with 29,490 Vehicles sold
VW April 2017 Sales Up 1.6% with 27,557 Vehicles sold
BMW April 2017 Sales Down 12.2% with 26,105 Vehicles sold
Mazda April 2017 Sales Down 7.8% with 24,164 Vehicles sold
Audi April 2017 Sales Up 5.1% with 18,711 Vehicles sold
Jaguar/Land Rover April 2017 Sales Up 34.5% with 8,441 Vehicles sold
Mitsubishi April 2017 Sales Down 13.4% with 8,375 Vehicles sold
Volvo April 2017 Sales Up 15.4% with 7,121 Vehicles sold
Porsche April 2017 Sales Up 2.2% with 5,529 Vehicles sold

In April, Honda moved ahead of Nissan, Kia ahead of Subaru, and both Mercedes-Benz and VW moved ahead of BMW.

U.S. Automobile April 2017 sales were off 4.0 percent on a volume basis (1.44 million vs 1.50 million) but just 0.7 percent on a DSR Daily Selling Rate basis. 26 selling days in April of 2017 vs 27 in April of 2016.

The industry is beginning to slow. How long the OEMs will be able to maintain profit margins with mildly sinking sales remains to be seen. Ford's weak quarter announced last week may be just the start of a longer term decline for the industry. There will still be profits but lower financial results on lower volumes are probably in the cards for the U.S. market over the short to intermediate term.

 

I am almost sure it could.

Quick search shows this in a Jazz (Fit). The Civic is longer and wider, not quite as tall.

 

Hi All:

2017 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hatchback


Just minutes before midnight and first attempt at steady states.​

I completed one NB run with about 5-miles of mist like rain. On the return, about 7-miles of heavier rain which shut down this attempt early this morning.

I sure do like the muscular angles of the exterior both front, side and profile. Honda has not provided a Cd but has said the sedan is about 10 percent lower Cd * FA than the 9th gen. They stated that the Hatchback has the best lower aero covers they have ever installed on the Civic. And no Cd provided. Let me guess it would be around 0.28 to 0.30 for the hatch and 0.27 to 0.28 for the sedan?

Wayne

 

Hi All:

It is midnight and the last chance to get the Steady States knocked out before swapping into the 17 Civic Sport with the MT in LA tomorrow.

Wayne

 

Hi All:

Another winner.

The 30/36 mpgUS city/highway rated 2017 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hatchback just like the entire 10th gen Civic lineup with that excellent direct injected and turbo charged 1.5L I4 mated to the CVT buried its EPA highway ratings.

Like a broken record, few OEMs offer more than the ratings indicate and everything we have driven with Honda's 1.5L Turbo shows far above EPA results to a vehicle. That being the 16 Civic Touring Sedan, 16 Civic EX-T Sedan with the MT, 16 Civic Coupe EX-L, 17 AWD CR-V Touring, and now the 17 Civic Sport Touring Hatch.

If there was one drivetrain that deserves to be recognized for the best spread of performance and efficiency, I know of no other that would come close to the Honda 1.5T. It really is that good.

The steady state(s) were undertaken just after midnight this morning with temperatures ranging from 59 to 60 degrees F. Winds were calm during the northbound and southbound drives.

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The 36 mpg EPA highway crossover occurred at a calculated 73.55 mph. considering the graph, the least efficient Civic Sport Touring Hatch should be rated at 41 mpg highway in no uncertain terms. Truly an excellent display of efficiency with 180 hp on tap when desired.

The indicated speeds of 50 through 70 mph matched the actual speeds per the Garmin and CC showed the cars display was about .5 mph short of actual from 50 to 70 mph. Given the CVT configuration, every ascent saw the tach climb between 150 and 300 RPM.

RPMs at 60 mph indicated 1,625 RPM although it is a CVT so the bottom will be seen only on the flattest grades.

Wayne

 

Good news! I ordered a hatchback Sport manual, that combo was pretty rare locally so it's a factory order. It should be here in a few months. Looking forward to seeing your results with that setup.

 

Hi Mike:

Good choice. I am heading to LA to pick up the 17 Civic Sport Hatchback with the 6-speed MT in just a few minutes!

Wayne

 

Nice one Mike! Hope it treats you well.

 

I like the Sport's blacked out trim and grille. The car's look is very busy, but that cleans it up a bit.

Not so wild about the 18" alloys on the Sport.

 

I ordered the blue, it will look pretty much just like this one https://www.digitaltrends.com/car-reviews/2017-honda-civic-hatchback-sport-review/

I like the look of the front, but the back is a little too busy for my tastes.

I'm undecided on the wheels. I like the look of them, but 45 profile sidewalls don't provide a whole lot of cushion over potholes. Replacement tires for that size typically don't have great tread wear ratings, and they will surely be more expensive than the 16s.

 

Oh that looks GOOD in blue! Nice.

 

Hi Mike:

2017 Honda Civic Sport Hatch

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Wayne

 

Hi All:

The Civic/Civic Hatches drivetrain offers the best performance/efficiency spread in the segment and easily earns a solid A grade.

Pricing? I give it a C- and this is where the Civic Sport Touring Hatch has some strong headwinds imho only. The Civic Sport Touring Hatch we reviewed retails at $29,135 including the $835 D&H charge. A TrueCar price report with pricing from the West Coast, Midwest, South, and East Coast show the best prices found in the LA area at just $2k off retail. We are speaking of $27k + TTL for a fully loaded Civic Hatch Compact! You can buy almost two Elantra SE’s or Eco’s for nearly that price currently. Despite the high price, demand is white hot as the 10th gen Civic leads the U.S. compact segment both in April and YTD. Something Honda has to be smiling with all the way to the bank.

The Civic Hatch exterior is one of the most attractive compacts in the segment imho. From the half hexagonal shapes of the tail lamps and interior hints – same as the sedan, the blacked out wheels and piano black lower front and rear fascia extensions make it look hot! Another solid A grade imho although I can understand some having problems with the angular rear end.

The Civic Sedan sits in the second spot with the Cruze in third and Focus/Elantra holding on to fourth. The Corolla has some nice angles but overall has too much wheel to fender opening and the grille has no curb appeal.

Inside, the Civic hatch adds excellent storage utility although that C-Pillar is awfully thick blocking views into both blind spots. Owners will have to get used to the split rear window but the bar is thin enough and it will not take much time.

And some of the more onerous miscues…

The Radar CC in the Touring just like in the sedan is the worst in the segment. It really needs to be reworked from both its harsh acceleration and deceleration and the erratic nature when either are evoked.

I also wish the seat foam was a bit softer and the lower cushions a bit longer. The Touring’s power seats allow enough movement to get comfortable but Elantra seats still own the segment imho. For taller drivers in particular.

2017 Honda Civic Hatchback Passenger Side Dash


Molded center dash stitching spells cheap and the faux carbon fiber insert is just an ok facsimile.

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More design mistakes include the following.

To begin, there is no sunglass holder in either the Sport Touring Hatch or Sport Hatch (shown). The Touring includes sunroof controls and microphone between the two lamps is perfectly fine.

The 7” NAVI touchscreen w/ the Garmin backend is an excellent addition. However, the lack of On/Off and tuning knobs is shake your head bad. I expect these to be added back in during the Civic refresh in 2018/2019. The wheel controls are only acceptable as you have to slide from top to bottom instead of toggle up/down like most competitors wheel controls work.

The HVAC control knobs are only temperature spin knobs for the dual auto climate. To adjust fan speed, shut down A/C, and change the air flow from windscreen to the body/footwells, you have to get into the Climate menu from the Climate button. Taking eyes off the road and screwing around in menus in the process.

Where your smartphone will sit is in behind the shifter and is hard to get to. In addition, looming your smartphone cord from under the dash though to the storage area is FUBAR as it is with the std. 10th gen Civic sedans. The USB and 12V ports are under the central dash. This is a mess.

Because of the above miscues, I will give the Civic Touring Hatch interior a C. A mix of good and bad.

Concluding, one of the most desirable compacts – or any other segment for that matter – ever designed has over the top fuel savings capabilities with over the top giddy up and go. Excellent R&H characteristics add to its appeal. The upfront pricing and interior user friendliness is where it runs into trouble. The interior design choices are a let down from an otherwise excellent compact segment offering and would cause me to hold on to my hard earned $s until the refresh when some of the interior gaffs will be mitigated. This is my own opinion.

All in however, the looks, the efficiency, the performance, and perceived reliability with both the Honda moniker and Civic name attached make it a winner in most driver’s books. Is it any wonder why American’s are picking them up by the tens of thousands each and every month?

I will have more on the std. Sport trim over the coming week. Some of the above is fixed in the much less expensive offering fortunately.

Wayne

 

Looks nice! I like simple knobs for climate control, over-complicated touch screens with layers of menus bother me. That is one item that I decided that I will have to put up with for a while until it (hopefully) becomes intuitive. I kind of wanted a Sport Touring for the LED headlights and leather, but the pricing was just too high to justify.

 

Hi Mike:

The non-Touring Civic Sport trim has tuning and power knobs and full HVAC controls and buttons. It incorporates a smallish 5" screen with no rearview dynamic guidelines that looks out of place but the controls are all there thank goodness.

Could this be the 2017 Honda Civic Hatchbacks real reason for being?

2017 Honda Civic Sport Hatchbacks 6-speed MT

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Just a decade ago, almost half the new cars and trucks available were offered with a manual transmission (MT) option. At the time, the MT was the easiest way to the highest efficiency and lowest out the door cost.

Today thanks to much more efficient ATs and the general lack of "rowing your own" demand, availability is down to just one-fourth of the models offered in the U.S. And this is only an "Availability" metric. The U.S. public has clearly decided that the Manual is heading the way of the dial telephone with less than 3 percent of new cars and trucks being purchased so equipped today.

Thank goodness manufacturers are still including the "Hand Shaker" option in their B, C, and some D-Segment offerings. Numerous compact PUs and RAM with their HD Cummins as well...

The MT in a press car is always a personal highlight despite knowing that it may soon be relegated to museums and online discussions talking about the good old days. Leaving Prietive – Honda’s LA Press Fleet handler, yesterday afternoon I told the receptionist, “This is going to be a great week!” The 6-speed manual in the Civic Sport Hatch is one of the reasons for that sentiment.

Given this week’s ride and first drive results, Honda's three pedal and stick solution is one of the best available today.

Thank you for continuing to offer this enthusiast option Honda.

Wayne

 

Ours are equipped a little differently, all trims have the 7" screen with the dynamic guidelines and Android Auto / Carplay. The tradeoff is the touchscreen climate controls. I rarely use the volume knob in my car so I don't think I will mind that omission.