Honda has backtracked on last year's decision to discontinue the base LX trims for the Civic and CR-V, with these more affordable models set to return. This information was discovered by CarsDirect via order guide data obtained by the publication and later confirmed by Honda. It basically means that both the Civic and CR-V will become more affordable.
Although the LX trims have yet to reappear on the Honda website, we do know that the Civic Sedan LX was previously almost $1,500 cheaper than the Sport, the current base trim. The Civic Sedan now starts at $25,050 for the Sport, so when the LX returns, we expect a base price of around $23,500. Applying the same saving to the CR-V will bring its base price much closer to $30,000.
When the Civic Sedan LX was last on sale, it did without features like alloy wheels and a leather-wrapped steering wheel while being the only one with a basic four-speaker sound system. Its engine was the familiar 2.0-liter four-cylinder that makes a modest 158 horsepower. But other than that, it was much the same talented sedan, and its low price made it a solid buy at a time when new car prices were rising rapidly. We expect the LX to return for the Civic Hatchback as well.
The latest generation of the CR-V has only ever been sold with the EX as the base trim, so we can imagine the CR-V LX also losing a few nice-to-haves in favor of a lower price.
When the new CR-V arrived, its base price increased by over $4,000, partly because it was an all-new model and partly because the LX trim was cut.
Honda hasn't culled the base LX for all its models, though. The new-generation Accord sedan starts with the LX trim, priced at $27,295, over $2,000 less than the next cheapest trim. The same applies to the latest HR-V LX, which is $2,100 less expensive than the mid-range HR-V Sport.
The addition of the LX trims should further bolster strong sales of the CR-V, which registered over 20,000 units in the United States last month. That included a monthly record for the CR-V Hybrid, which registered 9,551 sales.
Last year, Honda sales were severely hampered by low inventory levels, but the company said this has improved early in 2023.
