2023 Honda wait times update: How long for delivery of a 2023 Honda HR-V hybrid, Civic hybrid and Civic Type R, and what the brand is doing about it

Honda has revealed the waiting times for its most popular models in Australia – and the story is not good if you are fan of hybrid or performance models.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that company management is working hard behind the scenes to rectify the situation.

Here are the key models and their wait times:

This is worse than the national average wait time so far this year of between four-to-five months, but things should change.

Speaking at the launch of the Civic Type R in Melbourne last week, Honda Australia Director, Carolyn McMahon, believes that – although long delays are an industry-wide phenomenon – being open and transparent is the only way to minimise the frustration buyers experience in having to wait for their new vehicles.

“We believe the best approach to that is just communication, so just keeping (buyers) updated,” she said. “And that’s right from the time of sale. Being upfront about what the realistic wait time is.

“And we provide that communication to our (dealer body) representatives so they know. We’re asking them too to be upfront with the customer, and then of course them keeping the customer updated (from there).”

The CR-V (MY23) is in stock and available now.

McMahon added that the issues of securing enough supply to meet strong demand are distorting the reality of its sales performance in Australia, and that it would enjoy a stronger showing in the sales charts if there were more vehicles to deliver to buyers.

Following the controversial agency model with no-haggle single-pricing-for-all policy announcement in 2020, Honda acknowledged that it expected sales to drop from around 40,000 units the year prior to around 20,000 units, driven by the discontinuation of models like the City light sedan, Jazz supermini, Civic sedan and Odyssey people mover.

However, the unforeseen production shortages in the face of mounting orders for the new-generation HR-V small SUV and Civic hybrid released since 2022 saw Honda Australia post just 14,215 sales last year – its lowest number in decades.

As such, McMahon was quick to dispel speculation that the agency model is failing and that falling sales might lead to the brand exiting Australia in much the same way that General Motors did with Holden back in 2020 – particularly when further big drawcards like the all-new ZR-V mid-sized SUV and next-gen CR-V land mid-year and by 2024 respectively.

The Civic e:HEV hybrid will be available in mid-2024.

“The challenge is just the volume (of vehicles we can get our hands on)," she said. “We’re confident that once volume irons itself out, we’ve got the right line-up and right structure for 20,000 units.

“It will get better, and volume will get better, but we have to wait for that to happen.”

When will the car industry return to normal supply times?

While McMahon admitted nobody in the industry can say definitively when that will be, Honda is working hard to obtain as many vehicles as possible for Australia.

The HR-V Vi petrol will be available mid-2023.

“There are so many factors – it’s not just the supply from the factory, it’s things like port congestion,” she said.

“But the positive thing for us is that the model is working, and demand is doing OK. Demand is where we need it to be.

“Our job is to secure supply and we have very, very strong partnerships. We’ve got good support. We have to ride it until we get there.”