At the Tokyo Salon, Honda unveiled a new Jazz — simultaneously with the Electric Vision event, which took place in Amsterdam, Holland — the fourth generation of the successful model that, in Europe, will only be available with hybrid engines.
It is the latest step in the manufacturer's electrification strategy, whose initial plans included the electrification of its entire European range, with hybrids and electrics, by 2025.
They contemplated, in the past, because now Honda announced the acceleration of its Electric Vision strategy a few years. So, in 2022, three years ahead of schedule, Honda's European range will be electrified . The acceleration of the plans is justified by the vice president of Honda Motor Europe, Tom Gardner:
Tom Gardner, Vice President of Honda Motor Europe“The pace of change in regulation, market and consumer behavior in Europe proves that the electrification trend is advancing faster here than anywhere else in the world. In that sense, we need to act in order to face these challenges."
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The plan is to launch six new electrified models in the next 36 months, which already include the new Jazz and electric ones, with these two playing the main role in achieving Honda's CO2 emission targets in Europe. The remaining ones are missing another electric and three hybrids.
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Where is the Civic Type R?
After we learned of these plans, the doubt arose almost immediately — and the Honda Civic Type R , what fate will it have?
We know how enormous the current pressure is on manufacturers to reduce their emissions, and Honda is no different — by 2021 average CO2 emissions must drop to 95 g/km. Non-compliance entails substantial fines.
Machines like the Honda Civic Type R, one of the current kings of hot hatch, may have its existence threatened in the future. Could it disappear?
Déjà vu…
This is not the first time this has happened. A decade ago Honda wanted to follow a new path, that of efficiency — remember Honda Insight? — practically clearing away its glorious past associated with performance — Formula 1, VTEC, NSX, Type R…
We first saw the S2000 say goodbye in 2009 with no successor, and the Civic Type R (FN2, pictured above) would disappear in 2011. The only glimmer of hope was the advances (and setbacks) for a hypothetical successor to the NSX, which were already on the way. of 2007.
It was a mistake — performance remains one of Honda's hallmarks. It wasn't necessary to wait many years to see the trajectory corrected. In 2015 the Civic Type R (FK2) would return in the last breaths of life of the 9th generation of the Civic.
That same year, a new NSX appeared, a mix of hydrocarbons and electrons, demonstrating that you don't have to turn your back on performance in search of more efficiency and less emissions.
Is Civic Type R to continue or not?
It was at the Electric Vision event in Amsterdam, where Razão Automóvel was present through Diogo, that we got a peremptory answer to your question about the fate of the Civic Type R, considering the rampant electrification and the war on emissions. This could not come from a better source, the president of the Honda Motor Europe brand, :
Katsushi Inoue, President and COO of Honda Motor Europe."Type R is to stay."
Relief… Type R is a key brand for Honda, so it will continue to exist…
Of course, we don't know what the Civic Type R will be in the future. Will it remain faithful to the combustion engine in the coming years of the next decade or will it give in to electrification, whether partial or total?
Hybrid rivals of the Civic Type R have already been confirmed, such as the next CUPRA Leon, so it's a plausible scenario, but predictably, those responsible for the brand present did not come forward with more information.
Even us, taking advantage of April 1st, toyed with a possible electrification of the Civic Type R — the Honda Civic Type REV…
Whichever way you go, the good news is that in the future there will be a Honda Civic Type R.