Previously, the 2022 Honda Civic was teased to be arriving in Malaysia as early as this year by the President and Chief Operations Officer of Honda Malaysia, Sarly Adle Sarkum. However, this may no longer be the case in light of the multiple COVID-19 lockdowns in our country.

According to WapCar, which quoted sources familiar with the matter, the 2022 Civic was originally set to debut in Malaysia in late Q3 or early Q4 2021. In fact, Honda Malaysia was supposedly set to preview the new Civic in Malaysia not long after the C-segment sedan is launched in Thailand later this month.

Of course, there’s a chance that the all-new Civic will still be launched in Malaysia sometime this year, but we reckon it’s difficult for any carmaker to estimate exactly when they can launch new models in the current COVID-19 lockdown.

After all, most of the automotive sector is still not allowed to operate right now. The production of vehicles and components are only set to resume in phase two of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), and so far, only six states are in the second phase: Perak, Penang, Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Perlis.

Nonetheless, if you’ve got your eyes on the 2022 Honda Civic – and you’re not in a rush to get a new car – it may be worth it to wait for the C-segment sedan to make its Malaysian debut, which could still happen this year. If it does launch here by the end of 2021, it will be able to enjoy the sales tax exemption, which has been extended to 31 December 2021.