Honda received a tremendous amount of praise for its fully redesigned Civic sedan. Alongside the sedan, Honda also mentioned it would be releasing two other body styles; a coupe and hatchback. While the coupe was already released in production spec, it is the hatch that most of us are waiting to see. In New York, Honda unfortunately does not have any production spec Civic Hatchbacks here at the show, but they do have one cool prototype!

The Civic Hatchback is expected to come to production with the same engine trims as the sedan. This includes a 174-hp, 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder which will help get the hatch to 100km/h in around 7 seconds. The hatch will come with a 6 speed manual transmission to create a more driver involved experience. To improve handling, the hatchback (at least the prototype) is low and wide to provide an aggressive look and, hopefully, superior driving dynamics all tied together in a practical package.

By Honda introducing a Civic Hatchback it helps them transition into a segment where they can unveil a Type R. As seen in Europe over the past few years, the previous generation Civic’s had a Type R variant in a hatchback body style. The design of the Civic Hatchback is sporty, however, is unlikely to come to market looking as clean and sophisticated as the prototype. As a side note, Honda may be trying to enter into the market to compete with Subaru; keeping the WRX and WRX STI sedan and hatchback in mind.

The 2017 Civic Hatchback is expected to be delivered to European markets early in 2017, shortly after hitting North American shores.