Orders for Honda Civic Type-R FL5 Suspended in Japan Due to High Demand

The new Honda Civic Type-R FL5 is one of the few surviving members of a now dying breed, known as the pure-combustible sportscars. While the impending electromobility sent automakers scrambling to electrify their fleets, such a phenomenon also allured petrolheads and performance car enthusiasts alike to burn up their savings in order to get their hands on the surviving few.

The sudden surge of demand for Honda’s latest hot-hatch has forced the Japanese marque to temporarily suspend orders until further notice. According to Japanese automotive news site Best Car Web, demands for the latest Civic Type-R in the Land of the Rising Sun are astronomically high, which prompts Honda dealers nationwide to implement a lottery system in order to decide which customers will be getting the hot-hatch first.

As the last saving act in subduing this raving demands, Honda Japan has decided to halt further orders for said model, beginning from Dec 19, 2022, until further notice.

Prior to this shocking news, Honda Japan had planned a monthly sales volume of only 400 units for the new Civic Type-R, as that figure is based on the production capability of Honda’s Yorii plant located in Saitama. Pre-orders for the Civic Type-R FL5 were initially opened back in July 21, 2022, with its official sales kicking off later in September that year.

On top of that, Best Car Web’s report also unveiled that many Honda Japan dealers have sold out their allocated quota for the new Civic Type-R. For example, one Honda dealer based in Tokyo had been allocated 72 units of the Civic Type-R, of which all of them were sold out instantaneously. Another Tokyo dealer interviewed by the auto news portal revealed that they received about 20 orders every week following the launch of the FL5

Should all 2,100 Honda dealers across Japan receive at least 10 orders of the FL5, that would amount to more than 20,000 units ordered, which really reflects the skyrocketing demand for the hot-hatch in Japan alone.

On the other hand, a similar situation is going on in the Land Down Under, as the first year allocation for the new Honda Civic Type-R gone within 24 hours after it’s been opened for bookings. This means that many Australians might have to wait more than a year to get their hands on this coveted hot-hatch.

Drive Australia reported that the first 12 months stock of the new Honda Civic Type-R FL5 specially allocated for the Aussie market perished in less than a day, which makes any orders placed now estimated to be delivered and fulfilled earliest by mid-2024. Order books for said hot-hatch in Australia were initially opened back in Dec 2022.

Meanwhile, things are rather quiet in our regional markets, as Vietnam still remains the sole ASEAN nation to officially receive the new Civic Type-R. Launched back in Oct 2022, the Viet-spec Type-R is reportedly going to be priced at VND2,399 billion (RM447,632), which is way higher than the retail price in its homeland market of only JPY 4,997,300 (RM165,972). 

To add, Honda’s latest hot-hatch is priced at around AUS$72,000 (RM218,254) – which is a tad bit higher than the home market price, but not as astronomical as Vietnam's price.

Unfortunately, this delay might affect the official launching date of the new Civic Type-R into our Malaysian market, as well as the rest of key ASEAN markets such as our northern neighbour, Thailand. Both Honda Malaysia and Thailand have yet to announce any official launching dates for the hot-hatch, let alone whether said model will ever enter both said markets.

Taking into consideration the current situations going on in both Japan and Australia, the prospect of seeing the all-new Honda Civic Type-R FL5 grazing our country’s backroads or hooning around our national tracks, might be bleaker than ever.