Allocations for the 2023 Honda Civic Type R have sold out for the first 18 months in Australia despite the sky-high price tag of the Japanese hot hatch.
In fact, Australia’s first-year allocations were sold out within 24 hours of opening the order books for the new Civic Type R on December 1. It has proven to be so popular that dealers now state that if you place an order now, your car will not be delivered until the middle of 2024.
Read: 2023 Honda Civic Type R Costs As Much As The VW Golf R In Australia
While Honda Australia hasn’t said how many Civic Type Rs will land on local shores in the first year, Drive reports that it is approximately 600 cars. If true, this is a very good sign for the automaker, particularly considering that just 1,200 to 1,300 examples of the previous-generation Civic Type R are thought to have been sold in Australia during its nearly four-year model run.
Aussies buying the Civic Type R will have to part ways with a serious amount of cash. Indeed, it has a driveaway price of AU$72,600 ($50,182), making it approximately $12,000 ($8,296) more expensive than the previous FK8-generation model.
This price hike makes the new Civic Type R considerably more expensive than two of its key rivals, namely the Hyundai i30 N which starts at AU$50,825 ($35,140), and the VW Golf GTI, which is available from AU$61,375 ($42,434). Indeed, it puts the Honda on par with the VW Golf R which starts at AU$72,837 ($50,359) but includes a sophisticated all-wheel drive system as opposed to the front-wheel drive of the Type R.
