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Honda is consolidating the Civic lineup upwards, dropping the longstanding base-model Civic LX in favor of the Civic Sport. The LX had a long run, but Honda is changing its strategy for its entry-level compact car and bumping customers into a slightly more expensive base model.
Honda has had more trouble building cars than most automakers. US sales for the Japanese automaker were down 50 percent year-over-year in July, and Honda dealer lots look emptier than ever. With those numbers come changes, especially considering the strong consumer demand for Honda products. The issue has been having cars on the lot rather than a lack of customers.
It’s something of a shame because the LX was actually a great value for money. If you didn’t care about it having steelies and being generally a bit basic, you still get the impressive 11th-generation Civic refinement, styling, and driving experience for about $1,500 less than the Sport. But there is a lot of logic to dropping the LX, especially in the modern debt-friendly market where buyers seem unconcerned about the purchase price.
Honda also did a general price increase to the entire Civic lineup, which is fairly standard for the next model year of a car. The Sport sedan starts $25,745 and the Sport hatchback starts at $26,545, an increase of $2,100 and $1,900 respectively compared to the LX. At the top end, the Civic retains the EX and Touring trim, while the hatchback loses the EX-L mid-level trim.
It looks like Honda doesn’t want to produce base models anymore, and consumers aren’t interested in them either. In all fairness, the slight price bump from the LX to Sport is something most buyers would consider, and consolidating production helps Honda save money. So we bid the LX trim adieu.
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