Pricing has yet to be announced but it is likely to cost notably more than the regular Type R (£48,900). Only 40 will be built in total, with 10 bound for the UK. These will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis, Honda said.
It is the latest in a series of hot hatches to have been axed in the UK and Europe: Autocar last week reported the demise of the Ford Focus ST, and that followed the Hyundai i30 N, pulled from sale last year.
Few front-driven, petrol-powered hot hatches remaIn, such as the stalwart Volkswagen Golf GTI, the smaller Polo GTI, the Mini Cooper S and its hotter sibling, the John Cooper Works. The four-wheel-drive hatch market is in a healthier state, comprising cars such as the Golf R, Toyota GR Yaris and Mercedes-AMG A45 S, but all are threatened by emissions regulations and several brands’ moves to electric performance cars.
The Civic Type R’s run in the UK spanned 28 years and six generations – although the first (launched in late 1997) was not officially offered by Honda UK, so a handful arrived as imports from Japan.
The second generation arrived in 2001 with a 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated four-pot producing 197bhp. It was built in Swindon and indirectly replaced the Integra Type R that had been offered in the UK between 1997 and 2001. It was an immediate hit thanks to a well-judged chassis set-up, superb free-revving engine and relatively low price, and today remains among the most affordable examples of the hot hatch.
