Peugeot discontinued the GTi a few years ago and Renault will do the same in 2023 with the RS. With Ford announcing plans to discontinue the Fiesta and Focus, the ST model will also be wiped out. Moreover, the Hyundai i30 N will not get a new generation in the near future. Not all hope is lost for the hot hatchback as VW has announced it is sticking with its GTI model. Honda isn’t going to abandon the attractive car either, according to the Civic Type R’s lead engineer.
In an interview with Car, Hideki Kakinuma said “without the Type R, there is no Honda.” He went on to explain the Japanese automaker “deeply believes that the pleasure of driving is the core essence of personal mobility, personal mobility.” Of course, he remains realistic in an auto industry where stricter rules are forcing companies to embrace electrification:
“[Because of] very strict carbon neutrality and emissions regulations, it’s very hard to think of a sporting model like that at these limits.”
The good news is that Honda sees this obstacle as “a new challenge to bring driving pleasure to our customers.” To that end, Kakinuma told the British magazine that the company remains committed to delivering the Type R further.” Interestingly, he mentioned there may still be enough time for a high-performance combustion engine car, although he isn’t holding out his hopes too high.
The engineer says carbon neutrality can still be achieved with an ICE-powered car, which tells us that Kakinuma is most likely referring to synthetic fuels. As a side note, Toyota is experimenting with a hydrogen-fueled combustion engine. With stricter Euro 7 regulations coming into effect later this decade, the future doesn’t look so good for conventionally powered performance cars.
Kakinuma argues that the Type R won’t necessarily have a petrol engine as electric or hybrid cars can still earn that badge as long as it’s fun to drive. Lest we forget that earlier this year, Honda Motor Europe technical adviser Ko Yamamoto didn’t rule out a plug-in hybrid Civic Type R based on the recently launched model.