Honda Civic Returns to Japan after 6-Year Hiatus

The Civic, Honda Motor Co.’s most popular model worldwide, will go on sale in Japan next month for the first time since 2011.

Honda discontinued the Civic in its home market six years ago because of low demand. The 10th generation model being introduced there in September was designed specifically for the U.S. market and features dramatic styling and high-performance handling.

Neither characteristic was typical of previous models. The Civic is one of Honda’s global models, meaning a single design intended for multiple markets. The Nikkei says 70% of the carmaker’s worldwide sales are global designs. The balance are vehicles developed for one of six regional markets: North America, South America, Europe, China, Asia Pacific and Japan.

Even global models include tweaks to meet local tastes. But the company tells The Nikkei the result was high development costs and mundane final products that weren’t “best for respective regions.”

The newspaper says the 10th-generation Civic broke that policy, resurrecting a “lead country” system that tailored global models around either Japanese or North American market needs. Now the company plans to apply the same technique to others of its global models.