After two years of trailing behind the Toyota Corolla, the Honda Civic is back on top
2024 will end with a momentous Return of the King.
Recommended Videos
Putting some distance between the post-COVID supply chain constraints and the Civic’s Alliston, Ontario, assembly plant certainly contributed to the old king’s 2024 reemergence. But there is another key component. “Since the launch of the Civic Hybrid as a 2025 model,” Bordignon says, “the hybrid variant represents close to 60% of the retail volume for the Civic nameplate in Canada.”
Honda of Canada Manufacturing began assembling Civic Hybrids in June. That 60% figure works out to 2,050 Civic Hybrid sales in November alone, more than the entire Corolla lineup’s 1,805 sales. With hybrid availability improving over the course of the summer and fall, Civic volume in the September-November period jumped 17%.
The king’s return to the throne, however, does not necessarily mean that the throne is even remotely as resplendent as it was five, 10, 15, or 20 years ago. See, Canada’s current car market is a mere shadow of its former self. Over half of all auto sales in 2009 were cars. That figure now stands at just 14%.
This means that the Civic, even as the lord of the manor, is simply fighting for a big slice of an increasingly insignificant pie. Honda Canada’s Civic record was set in 2008 with 72,463 sales, equalling 8% of the car market at the time. With half that much volume, Honda’s portion of Canada’s car market has grown beyond 11%.
As for the cars, how can we be certain that Honda has actually built an insurmountable lead over the second-ranked Corolla? After all, there’s a month’s worth of sales data yet to be reported.
In other words, it’s over. The king is back.
Sign up for our newsletter Blind-Spot Monitor and follow our social channels on Instagram ,Facebook and X to stay up to date on the latest automotive news, reviews, car culture, and vehicle shopping advice.