Honda ceases production of natural gas, hybrid Civics

American Honda Motor Co. Inc. said Monday it has ended production of the compressed natural gas-powered Honda Civic, as well as the Civic hybrid and Accord plug-in hybrid.

Honda had produced the natural gas powered Civic since 1998, and sold about 16,400. The Civic hybrid has been produced since 2002 and Honda has sold more than 200,000.

John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co. Inc., said the increasing natural gas prices relative to gasoline prices and customer convenience factored in Honda’s decision to cease production of the natural gas Civic.

“For any amount of inconvenience like fueling infrastructure … customers aren’t willing to compromise,” Mendel said. He said demand for natural gas vehicles is limited mainly to fleet customers, because fueling stations aren’t common.

Honda said it ceased production of the Accord plug-in as it works on the a new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Honda sold more than 1,000 of the 2014 model year Accord plug-in. Production of the Accord hybrid, with sales of more than 20,100 since it went on sale in fall 2013, also has temporarily been halted as production moves from the U.S. to Japan. The new Accord hybrid is expected to debut in early 2016 and Mendel said the company expects a “strong increase” in sales.

Honda is developing its next-generation hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle due out in 2016 and a new battery-electric vehicle due out by 2018. Honda showed the FCV Concept in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, but it has not announced the vehicle’s production name.

“This new generation of advanced electric Honda vehicles, the fuel cell, battery electric and the plug-in hybrid, will become a mainstream volume pillar for the Honda brand,” Mendel said.

The Japanese automaker’s new 2016 Honda Pilot SUV goes on sale this week. Mendel said a new Ridgeline pickup is coming in early 2016 followed later in the year by an all-new Honda Odyssey minivan.

Mendel said the new Ridgeline will appear more like other trucks on the road, and will have more-traditional truck proportions.

“The design was polarizing,” he said. “No one wants to explain what they bought.”

The 10th-generation Honda Civic, with a new turbo engine, also is due out this fall. Mendel said the “very sporty and very affordable compact car” will offer best-in-class fuel economy “several ticks above the 40 miles per gallon benchmark.”

Honda is expected to gain market share over the next four years, according to the annual Car Wars forecast released earlier this month by Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research.

mburden@detroitnews.com