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5 Legit Reasons Why Honda Civic is so Popular

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If you were to list 5 popular car models, Honda Civic would be one of them. In the US alone, Honda sells over 1 million units, 30% of which is the Honda Civic. There are several reasons behind the Civics’ insane popularity. And this article is all about it.   

Today, I will list 5 legit reasons why Honda Civic is so popular and discuss what makes the Honda Civic specifically so different. 

The Honda Civic today is popular for many things. It is affordable, durable, fuel-efficient, safe, and smart. Civics today are one of the most value-for-money cars you can buy in the US market. But its popularity did not just start today or just for these factors.   

The History of Honda Civic Popularity

The popularity of the Honda Civic started way back in the 70s when the first Honda Civic was introduced in the US market. At that time, the US was going through an oil crisis, so nobody wanted a big chunky American muscle car with fuel-thirsty V-10s or V-12. 

Rather America needed something subtle that was good to go between places without needing refueling every trip. The very first Honda Civic in 1972 was just that. It was a subcompact car that was extremely fuel-efficient and fun to drive. Something that Americans needed the most. 

This boosted Honda’s Civic popularity as a fuel-efficient, ergonomic vehicle. In the coming years, Honda not only launched more models and variants, but they also kept adding stuff without reducing any. 

The Fuel efficiency they were known for kept getting better. Honda worked greatly on handling to make it more alive. They added sport trim to the Civic lineup to make them more fun. It had all types of body styles from sedan to hatchback and coupes with all types of models from FE trim to CRX.

By 1990, Honda literally made the Civic so versatile that there was something for everybody. The flexibility of the Civic to be specialized in any type of vehicle made it popular amongst tuners and modern. With the introduction of the VTEC, the era of modified JDM cars was also started. This made the Civic of the 90s and 2000s, the SI, CRX, a true legend amongst today’s tuners. 

Honda kept on improving their present model with better performance figures, driving ability, interior comfort, vehicle reliability, engine durability, etc. At the same time, it kept introducing environment-friendly models like the Civic Hybrid and Natural Gas models.    

So, while on one side, people loved the Honda Civic for its amazing power, performance, and tuning ability, some people loved Honda for its quality, reliability, fuel efficiency, and the incredible value it provided.    

This is why even 50 years later, the Honda Civic today is as popular as it was back then.  

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How Many Honda Civic are Being Sold per Year?

Since the 70s, Honda has sold over 20 million units worldwide. 40% of which, i.e., 5 million units of Honda Civic are sold particularly in the US since 2005. 

Over the last five years, Honda has made an average sale of 250,000 units of Honda Civic in the US alone. The last decade 2010-2020, was also the time where Honda has sold the most Civic ever in the US. 

But, what’s incredible is that Honda has already sold 160,000 units of Civic only in the first two quarters of 2021. That is equal to the total amount of Civic sold in 2010.  This data is more than enough to show the popularity of the Honda Civic. And the exponential growth potential it has as a vehicle. 

However, all these figures are for the newly purchased vehicles. For cars like the Honda Civic that are known to last for 10 years also have good release value. This makes the Civic a perfect pick for used car buyers.      

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If we look particularly at the North American Continent, the Honda Civic is sold the most in the US (300 units per year). While in Canada, Honda doesn’t sell more than 40K-50K units. Even in the European market, the Civic sales were limited to under 45K units/year for the last decade. 

Given its performance in Asia, it is safe to say that the US is currently the most Honda Civic-loving country, amounting to 30% of its global sales. 

The only other country that has shown similar interest in the Civic is China. After the introduction of the 10thGen Civic, in addition to the new Type R model, boomed the Civic sales to above 200,000 after 2018. With its rising popularity, the Civic is set to hit 300,000 units in sales in 2021. 

Now that we know about the Honda Civic’s popularity let’s find the reason behind it.   

The popularity of the Honda Civic today is due to its loyal customer base and the Civic’s ability to “not to disappoint.” As I said before, what people expected from Honda 10 years ago is the same as what they expect today. And the Civic stands to that. 

Civic is Still Fuel-Efficient:  

The Civic’s popularity started with fuel efficiency. Whether it was the 80s or the 2000s, or even today, one of the major civic selling points is its incredible fuel efficiency. Any Civic today, just like always, gets you the best fuel efficiency market can offer. 

All models of Honda Civic are rated to 40 mpg on Highway and 31 in the city. The only car that can get you more than that is the Toyota Prius. And trust me, nobody wants a Prius out of choice.  

Even the Civics performance variant, the Type R, is rated at 22/28 in city and highway. Such numbers for a performance-focused, 300 hp car are still impressive.  

Civics are Durable and Reliable

If there is one thing Honda is known for more than fuel efficiency, that is their reliability. Honda’s engines are the best and most refined engine in the world. And the Civic gets the best of all. Not only that, but Honda also has incredible build quality. 

A Honda Civic today is expected to score 150,000 miles easily. These are the cars that have been driven for 250,000-300,000 miles without showing major engine faults. Finding a 10- years old Honda Civic with 200,000 miles on odometers in used car sales is common. 

Even today, Honda Civics has a great reliability rating of 4.5/5 stars. In addition, the average annual maintenance cost of a Civic is less than $400. How much is Ford maintenance? Get to know it in this article. What’s more interesting is that Honda recommended maintenance at 7,500 miles compared to common 5000 miles. 

So if you are an average American driving 13,500 miles, you would only need to maintain your car 9 times in 5 years, costing $3600. 

Honda Civics are Safe: 

Civics are expected to be the perfect family car. And family cars are safe, so are Civics. With a 5-star safety rating from NHTSA and multiple Top Safety Pick awards from IIHS, civics has proven to be one of the safest cars around. 

The standard Honda Civic safety features are the perfect proof of its safety. For example, the Honda Sensing feature that includes a fleet of driver assistance features is all standard on all civics.     

The present Civic models also come with Vehicle stability assist, Electronic Brake Distribution, Brake-assist, Hill-assist, front and side airbag as standard.

Honda also uses something called Advanced Compatibility Engineering(ACE) for structuring to distribute collision forces away from the passengers, which boosts the overall safety aspect. 

Honda Civics are Affordable:   

With a base price of $21,700 for the Civic sedan, the Honda Civic can not be any more affordable. Even the Toyota Prius starts at $24,000, making the Honda Civic the most affordable of its class. 

The only expensive model is the Civic Type R, priced at $37,895, or the limited edition at $43,995. If we take the additional features into account, the maximum you would pay is an extra $4,000 – $5,000 in options, meaning you can buy a Civic that you like under 30K, which from today’s standard is pretty affordable. 

Civics Have Great Resale Value:

The resale value of a vehicle is greatly affected by engines. Given that an average American exchanges cars every 5 years, the Civic gets good value in returns. Because unless you drive more than 20,000 miles a year, your engine won’t run more than 100,000 miles. 

For a car rated at 150,000 miles additional 50,000 miles means extra life of 4-5 years.  This is why Civic has one of the least depreciation rates of 37% in 5 years. In numbers, you can expect to sell your $30,000 for more than $15,000 after using it for 5 whole years. 

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