Update: The story has been updated with the take rate for manual transmissions in the regular Civic sedan.
With a new generation of Civic arriving for 2022, it's no surprise the 2021 Honda Civic has a pared-down lineup. Previously, the company announced that the coupe was being discontinued, and the Si performance models would be on hiatus until the next generation. Now we know that Honda is also dropping the manual transmission option from the sedan bodystyle.
The manual transmission choices for the sedan were already limited for the 2020 model year. It was only available with a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder on the base LX and Sport trims, or on the Si trim. And the reason for the sedan losing this option is primarily the low take rate. Only about 2% of sedan buyers were opting to shift for themselves. Most manual buyers were opting for the hatchback, Si models and the Type R. And for 2021, you can still get it on Civic Sport and Sport Touring hatchbacks, as well as the Type R. If you need a Civic sedan with a manual, there are still 2020 Civic Si sedans on the market. We also expect manual offerings to expand again with the next-generation model coming soon, which will once again get an Si variant to slot between standard and Type R Civic models.
Also worth noting is that pricing for the 2021 Honda Civic sedan has crept up a bit, and not just because of the CVT becoming the standard transmission. The new base price is $22,005 for the Civic LX. That's $1,050 more than the 2020 LX with a manual, and $250 more than a 2020 LX with the CVT.