Honda has a habit of showing off soon-to-be-revealed new vehicles as “concept cars” that are really just thinly disguised versions of the real deal. We have no reason to believe the Honda Civic Sedan Prototype the automaker debuted at the end of last year isn’t a solid look at the next-generation 2022 Civic sedan set to go on sale midway through 2021. Need proof to back up the Civic Sedan Prototype’s bona fides? These photos, which leaked onto the internet, appear to show a production-ready version of the Civic show car.
The images landed on Civic11Forum.com, and even though some have “burlappcar.com” watermarks, their original source is likely China. Markings on the back of the white Civic make it highly likely that the car is the new Civic as built by Dongfeng-Honda, the joint venture that produces the Japanese automaker’s products that it sells within China.
Past Civics sold there have been similar to those built and sold in the United States. Besides, the car in the leaked images bears a close resemblance to the Civic Sedan Prototype. As you can see, the real 2022 Civic loses the concept car’s big wheels, aggressive fascia, big wheels, and deep window tint.
The rest is all there, though, including the wide headlights that flow into the grille, the delightfully thin roof pillars, and the window line that kicks up aft of the rear doors. The newly painted-over schnoz stands out, too; on the outgoing Civic it is either chrome or black plastic, but now the “H” badge lives partly in this body-color protrusion and partly in the simple blacked-out grille beneath.
We’ll know for sure if this is the new 2022 Civic when the actual vehicle debuts sometime this spring, but if this is it, we dig how closely it tracks with the Civic Prototype’s sleek new look, especially given how the old Civic could be considered … ahem, overstyled.
