Article Highlights:

• People want a Civic, they just can’t get one
• Sales are down for Honda across the board
• The Civic takes a larger hit than the rest of the lineup

Usually, Honda models sell quite well. In fact, a lot of models from a lot of manufacturers do quite well. That is, until the end of the pandemic. The rapid re-opening of the world meant that suppliers, like those producing parts for the 2022 Honda Civic, are struggling to meet demand. Now, it’s starting to hurt Honda’s sales.

Civic sales are down by a massive percentage

Things are getting a little tricky. While sales of the Civic are down, and by a good margin, Honda as a company is killing it. A lot of that is to do with the very same surge in demand that’s hurting sales of the 2022 Honda Civic. So far, per Automotive News, sales at Honda are up for the first 10 months of this year, sitting at around 1.2 million units so far. Put in smaller, friendlier numbers, that’s a 15% increase.

Heck, just in the month of October Honda sold around 97,000 vehicles. Now here’s where things take a downward turn. The brand is 23% down from October last year. Of course, as this downturn affects Honda, it also hurts Acura. The two are the same company with the same supply chain after all. Worse still, sales for the 2022 Honda Civic are down a whopping 40%.

How much will the 2022 Honda Civic cost?

The first and most obvious candidate is yes, the supply shortage. However, there’s a few potential causes here. Price is the next most likely candidate. In addition to those with money for new cars snapping up units as quickly as they’re produced, those without aren’t touching the auto market. Those same people who are a little strapped for cash are Honda’s target market, especially in the younger post-college crowd.

A bottom-shelf spec 2022 Honda Civic costs $22,915 MSRP, with the hatchback sitting right around $2,000 more. For cash-strapped young buyers emerging from a massive economic downturn, those young buyers simply aren’t looking to buy new cars right now. Obviously, that means the brand’s cheapest models, like the Civic, will be hit the hardest, despite some pricer models like the Passport showing improvement in sales.

Honda can’t make new cars fast enough

Then, of course, there’s the supply shortage. Honda can’t sell Civics if they can’t make them, and right now it’s hard to do that. The semiconductor shortage is still very much a thing, and it’s hurting Honda’s bottom line. Frankly, there isn’t any relief on the horizon. The holidays will see a surge in consumer demand for just about everything, and that means shortages could continue. As for whether or not the new Civic’s poor sales are due to consumer dissatisfaction, well, that remains to be seen.