LOS ANGELES — The Honda Civic has been a staple of American motoring for almost 50 years — however greater than that, it has been a cornerstone of Honda Motor Co.’s recognition with U.S. shoppers.

Now, regardless of an onslaught of small crossovers intent on digging into the compact automobile’s coveted gross sales base of principally younger, first-time consumers, Honda is shifting to maintain its Civic franchise recent.

To proceed capturing the shrinking however passionate pool of U.S. automobile consumers, Honda is rolling out the Eleventh-generation Civic sedan subsequent yr. A virtually completed prototype, offered final week, gives an evolutionary improve from the present era, which has been a gross sales success regardless of some questionable styling cues.

“We all know that passenger automobiles have been shrinking — and possibly much more throughout the coronavirus with an enormous rise within the recognition of SUVs,” Gary Robinson, American Honda Motor Co.’s vp of vehicle product planning, stated throughout a product presentation final week. “We do consider that passenger automobiles are going to stabilize and really do fairly effectively over the subsequent 5 – 6 years.”

It’s a vital mission in a altering market.

The sedan, which can go on sale within the spring as a 2022 mannequin, is the nameplate’s extra mature providing in contrast with the Civic’s racer hatchback. The quirky coupe has been discontinued after the 2020 mannequin yr, as gross sales have waned. Additionally exiting the U.S. after 2020 is the Match subcompact hatchback.

Along with trimming again its automobile choices, Honda has introduced a product plan to beef up the appears of its mild vehicles, beginning with the Ridgeline midsize pickup. However firm executives say the model’s automobile classics, the Civic and Accord, have a wholesome future. The Accord midsize was simply freshened for 2021.

“Civic actually is our international folks’s automobile,” stated Robinson, “Now we have gross sales in over 170 completely different international locations and international gross sales of round 26 million items” because the 1973 mannequin yr. The U.S. is liable for 11.9 million of these gross sales through the years, and most of these Civics had been constructed at Honda factories in North America.

“It isn’t meant to be a revolutionary change,” Robinson stated of the redesign. “We undoubtedly did not wish to rethink Civic or change it dramatically. What we wished to do was take the strengths of it and take them additional.”

One motive for optimism, Robinson stated, is the Civic gives a greater mixture of options than crossovers within the low-$20,000 vary.

“It is actually onerous to supply an SUV that younger persons are actually in search of” at that value, he stated. The hatchback, particularly, “is way more compelling for them than switching to an SUV.”

The Civic franchise stays sturdy, partially, as a result of it stays the highest automobile — together with crossovers and pickups — amongst first-time consumers, Gen Z and multicultural shoppers, Robinson stated. Many Civic consumers are additionally automobile individuals who need the styling and driving expertise that cheap crossovers do not provide.

Amongst auto manufacturers, Honda has historically discovered a lot of its gross sales energy in automobiles. Though mild vehicles at the moment are liable for about 60 % of U.S. deliveries, the Civic was tied with the CR-V compact crossover as Honda’s bestselling automobile as not too long ago because the 2017 mannequin yr, in keeping with knowledge from Edmunds.

“The automobile market is not fully useless, and fewer rivals within the area permits Honda to seize a bigger piece of a smaller pie,” stated Jessica Caldwell, govt director of insights at Edmunds. “Civic makes up almost 26 % of the compact automobile market in comparison with 15 % a decade in the past, so it is a good enterprise.”

Karl Brauer, govt analyst at iSeeCars.com, concurred.

“For Honda, the Civic and Accord are just like the Corvette and Camaro for Chevrolet. These nameplates have attained an consciousness degree few nameplates ever obtain. And for that motive alone, Honda cannot abandon them,” Brauer stated. Plus, there’s nonetheless vital quantity within the compact and midsize automobile segments.

The subsequent-generation Civic builds on a powerful displaying for the tenth era, which was provided as a sedan, a hatchback, a coupe, in sporty Si and Kind R trims and with a mixture of guide and computerized transmissions and turbo and nonturbo motors.

Honda offered 222,806 Civics by way of October this yr.

Robinson stated the next-gen sedan and the hatchback, which can go on sale later in 2021, have styling revisions that draw on earlier Civic designs, together with the primary by way of fourth generations.

“These older Civics had been characterised by clear, easy and human-centered design,” he stated.

Honda launched pictures of the prototype, which may be very near the ultimate design, in Photo voltaic Flare Pearl orange, together with a design sketch of the inside. No mechanical info was supplied, though Robinson did say there might be “extra highly effective and sporty powertrains.”

Pricing was not introduced.

Inside, the Civic will provide an even bigger infotainment display, at 9 inches, and its first all-digital instrument cluster, Robinson stated. There’s additionally a honeycomb accent panel that runs throughout the sprint that is each ornamental and purposeful, since air vents sit behind it. Honda has stored bodily knobs for the most-used options.

Brauer stated the cleaner look of the next-gen Civic is a step ahead.

“The brand new Civic ought to enchantment to mainstream, sensible consumers whereas nonetheless providing interesting design parts for lovers,” he stated. “The chunkier, cleaner physique traces on the most recent model give it a premium look.”

In some trims and physique types, the present Civic is usually a little too aggressive for mainstream consumers, he added. “The styling seemingly drove away some potential clients that had been merely in search of a reliable compact automobile with out broadcasting a ‘Ricky Roadracer’ message,” Brauer stated.

The design improve can also be vital for Honda as a result of it’s not the one automaker enjoying the lengthy sport on automobiles.

Hyundai, for one, has an aggressive product plan that features automobiles in a number of segments, trim ranges and value factors. Hyundai simply launched the fashionable redesigned Elantra compact sedan, and it is in search of higher market share.

“The all-new Hyundai Elantra additionally gives a particular exterior design and premium cabin with clear traces and built-in air vents,” Brauer identified.

“Will probably be attention-grabbing to see how the market reacts to this new Civic,” he stated. “However I count on it is going to proceed to be a high vendor inside the compact automobile phase.”