2022 Honda Civic hatch appears in world’s weirdest leaked image

The 2022 Honda Civic hatch is taking shape ahead of its formal unveiling next week and an expected showroom arrival next year.

However we weren’t meant to see it just yet. Or were we?

While images are due to be formally released next week – and we have already published patent drawings – three photos exposing parts of the car mysteriously appeared on fan forum CivicXI (XI are Roman numerals for 11, and this is the 11th generation Civic).

We’re not sure if this was a deliberate and tactical leak by Honda, or if someone was genuinely excited enough to sneak a few frames and send them to the CivicXI website.

What we do know is that YouTuber Alex On Autos must have been bored at some point and was caught on camera striking an unusual pose.

Either way, we won’t need to wait too much longer to see what the new Honda Civic looks like without someone crouched in front of it. The covers come off for real next Thursday.

Honda is yet to reveal timing or pricing of the new model but, if night follows day, examples sold in Australia will come from Honda’s factory in Thailand.

It will also come with a fixed price, whatever that will be. 

Next month, Honda Australia will switch to a fixed priced business model with fewer dealers than before.

Customers won’t be able to negotiate on price and Honda will hold all the stock; dealers will simply be selling agents on behalf of Honda.

German brand Mercedes-Benz is due to switch to a fixed price business model from 1 January, 2022.

Industry experts have forecast prices will likely rise among brands who switch to the fixed-price business model.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says it is monitoring the rollout of the new fixed price business model with Honda from July 2021 and with Mercedes-Benz from January 2022, but CarAdvice understands there are no laws preventing the introduction of direct sales.