The 2022 Honda Civic Prototype arrives with a completely re-designed aesthetic. While the sedan and hatchback will return for 2022, Honda has taken an ax to the Civic coupe. This new Civic is set to include greater tech features and more standard safety equipment.

However, keep in mind that we’re looking at a prototype, not a full-fledged production car. While the styling is production-ready, this prototype is missing its interior, with Honda providing a render of what it will look like. As a result, there is much we still don’t know about Honda’s newest sedan.

The 2022 Honda Civic is a major aesthetic improvement

Although this 2022 Honda Civic is just a prototype, it highlights one of the best new changes. Let’s face it. The current-gen Civic is a bit of an ugly duckling. The over-styled front end is too busy with plastic openings that mimic air intakes yet go nowhere. The rear has enormous boomerang style taillights and even more plastic openings. Look at the higher-spec Civic Type R, and the over-styling goes absolutely mad with wings, fins, and just about everything Honda could throw at it.

Thankfully, the 2022 Honda Civic is a major departure from the current-gen. The overall design is much sleeker, featuring an aggressive front bumper, LED headlights, and a smaller front grille. There’s plenty to like in the rear as well, starting with the “L” shaped LED taillights. Gone is also the centralized exhaust exit found in the previous generation. Instead, this prototype gets large dual-exit exhaust tips surrounded by what almost looks like a gloss black diffuser.

Even the black wheels featured in the prototype are quite simple yet aggressive. We’ll have to wait and see for the Si and Type R models, but the Honda Civic Sedan is visually off to a great start.

The 2022 Civic gets major tech upgrades

Although the 2022 Honda Civic Prototype gives us a great look at the new generation’s exterior, it doesn’t have an interior. Instead, Honda has provided a rendering of what it will look like. While details are scarce, Motor1 reports that the infotainment screen will grow from seven-inches in the current-gen to nine-inches. Additionally, the render shows us that it’s now sitting on top of the dash rather than embedded in it.

The lack of a controller down by the shifter likely means that it will remain exclusively controlled via touch. While the render shows what appear to be analog gauges, Motor1 reports that the 2022 Honda Civic will offer a fully-digital instrument cluster.

In terms of safety tech, the Honda Civic is set to receive some major updates to Honda’s safety suite, Honda Sensing. Although there are no specifics, the Japanese carmaker stated that new active and passive safety systems would be added. Given Honda Sensing’s availability as standard equipment, some of these brand-new features should arrive in the base model.

Price, release date, and engine options are unknown

Since this 2022 Honda Civic is just a prototype, there are a lot of unanswered questions. For starters, we don’t know exactly when it will arrive. According to Motor1, we should see the full-fledged production car in early 2021. However, there is no official launch date just yet. The price is the next big mystery as Honda hasn’t published official figures. If previous generations of the Civic are anything to go by, expect a slight price bump for the all-new generation. Given the current-gen’s $21,050 starting price, this new one could start just above that figure.

In terms of engines, those are a mystery as well. However, there is no indication as of writing that there will be major changes in this department. As a result, we’ll have to wait and see. What we do know at least is that the more powerful Civic Si and Civic Type R will return. Regardless, the 2022 Honda Civic Prototype already has plenty going for it. Now we just have to see if it excels on the road.