Mugen confirms Civic Type R concept for Tokyo
Famed Honda tuner is turning up to the Tokyo show in force - which includes a fancy compact SUV (obvs)
If there’s one thing guaranteed to raise spirits in January, it’s the prospect of a Tokyo motor show. Previous years have seen cars like the Yaris GRMN, Subaru BRZ STI and, er, Suzuki Jimny pick up make their debuts, so it’s always worth paying attention to. With Tokyo 2023 kicking off on January 13th, Mugen has previewed what’s coming for its home show.
The ZR-V is the most important car, it seems, Mugen Custom Concept upgrading the SUV (essentially an HR-V under another name) with the concept of ‘Emotional Urban Sports’. We’re promised performance parts alongside the dubious aero add-ons, which include what appears to be a diffuser beneath the reap wiper, a bodykit of dramatic slashes and some gigantic wheels. As it’s Mugen, legendary for its weight-saving obsessiveness, we’re going to kindly assume they’re lighter than standard. Same goes for the quad exhausts - they must increase power, right?
Fortunately, more traditionally appealing hot Hondas are also heading to Tokyo. Alongside another ZR-V will be a Civic Sports Accessory Concept, which in the preview image shows off a very fetching blue car and a set of aero parts to make a Type R blush. It looks like just the kind of thing Mugen would create, but is actually the work of Honda itself. ‘Honda has created an exciting form that makes you feel the fun of driving and excitement of the car, not a sport that competes for speed, but a sport that you use every day’, proclaims the press release, which we’re going to assume means adding a little more spice to what is a quietly impressive but plain standard car.
Not to be outdone, Mugen will also bring something special that it hasn’t been previewed yet. Sound the alarm, people, because there’s a Civic Type R Mugen concept incoming. Which is absolutely worth being excited about, the combination of the best driving CTR yet with the expertise of the company that made cars like the wild FN2 and FD2 RR a real match made in heaven. We’ll even allow boot diffusers and dodgy wheels on that one. Stay tuned for more on that after Christmas.
I don't care if Mugen has waved it's magic wand at it, the core product is a turd to begin with and nothing can polish that.
Has anyone looked at the range of cars Honda currently sells in the UK, it's pretty unremarkable, only 5 cars in the range. How long before Honda disappears from the UK? They have gone on record saying they made a mistake with their European strategy and are now looking at lower UK sales. Seems they massively underestimated the Koreans who have dented their sales (Kia have 13 models and more on the way, Hyundai has 11, Kia outsells Honda 4:1). Their market share is decreasing and sales figures continue to fall. They used to have some fantastic class leading cars, they are now followers rather than bringing the market anything new? They should be top of the tree with cars like crossovers, hybrids and EVs.
Has anyone looked at the range of cars Honda currently sells in the UK, it's pretty unremarkable, only 5 cars in the range. How long before Honda disappears from the UK? They have gone on record saying they made a mistake with their European strategy and are now looking at lower UK sales. Seems they massively underestimated the Koreans who have dented their sales (Kia have 13 models and more on the way, Hyundai has 11, Kia outsells Honda 4:1). Their market share is decreasing and sales figures continue to fall. They used to have some fantastic class leading cars, they are now followers rather than bringing the market anything new? They should be top of the tree with cars like crossovers, hybrids and EVs.
At least we do have the RHD JDM import advantage, subject to none of the now all-important HMI stuff not actually working in a different region.
Honda did blow its EU-regional strategy over a couple of decades for a whole variety of reasons. But they did realise that the EU market is basically a dying duck (too many old gits, too much debt, insane politics...) and it is pointless trying to compete with the established brands in chasing the decline.
They will therefore continue as a 'boutique' brand, offering a selection of RoW products.
The fly is, there's not a lot 'boutique' left in the RoW products either (e and CTR aside) so it's quite hard to see how exactly this is supposed to work.
The New Sports model is like that 'free beer - tomorrow' sign and No-One would buy an N-One or a Ridgeline over here anyway.
Has anyone looked at the range of cars Honda currently sells in the UK, it's pretty unremarkable, only 5 cars in the range. How long before Honda disappears from the UK? They have gone on record saying they made a mistake with their European strategy and are now looking at lower UK sales. Seems they massively underestimated the Koreans who have dented their sales (Kia have 13 models and more on the way, Hyundai has 11, Kia outsells Honda 4:1). Their market share is decreasing and sales figures continue to fall. They used to have some fantastic class leading cars, they are now followers rather than bringing the market anything new? They should be top of the tree with cars like crossovers, hybrids and EVs.
It makes a Ford Escape seem not so hideous.
Has anyone looked at the range of cars Honda currently sells in the UK, it's pretty unremarkable, only 5 cars in the range. How long before Honda disappears from the UK? They have gone on record saying they made a mistake with their European strategy and are now looking at lower UK sales. Seems they massively underestimated the Koreans who have dented their sales (Kia have 13 models and more on the way, Hyundai has 11, Kia outsells Honda 4:1). Their market share is decreasing and sales figures continue to fall. They used to have some fantastic class leading cars, they are now followers rather than bringing the market anything new? They should be top of the tree with cars like crossovers, hybrids and EVs.
It makes a Ford Escape seem not so hideous.
- the Tokyo Motor Show (TMS) is held on odd-numbered years in October/November at Tokyo Big Sight. It's a typical motor show where the main stands are taken by the big OEMs
- the Tokyo Auto Salon (TAS) is held annually in January at Makuhari Messe (actually in Chiba, not Tokyo). It's a 'tuner show', most akin to SEMA, the stands are mostly taken by tuning and aftermarket companies, although as with the American counterpart, manufacturers take an increasing interest.
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