Why are there no body kits for the 2013+ sedan?....

ZeroTX

ZeroTX

Well-Known Member
67
28
Houston, Texas
Vehicle Model
Civic Si
Body Style
Sedan
This is something that genuinely surprises me... So Honda sold something like 350,000 Civics of the 2013 year model and the vast majority of these are sedans. If even 1,000 owners wanted a body kit, a small company could easily make a profit on 1,000 kits. Why are there absolutely NONE available?

I am interested in this, because I'd like to make the car have a lower to the ground appearance without affecting the ground clearance on the metal parts of the car. Some of the streets in Houston are pretty rough and I also really don't want any rougher than the stock 2014 Si springs (which are MUCH stiffer than the 2013).

Is anyone working on a kit? I don't want anything crazy ninja ricer style, just something simple and smooth like the HFP kit on the coupe or the Modulo kit on the 2012 body style.
 
Honda stopped selling HFP kits for the sedans during the 2007-2011 model design due to poor sales.
The coupe apparently sells enough kits to keep Honda making them. Go figure.
 
I get it. I'm not even talking about Honda, but about the huge aftermarket.... Talk about an opportunity! They are selling the aftermarket sideskirts like crazy, but there is no front piece to match unless you have a 2012.

I'm guessing something will come out at some point. Just seems odd on one of the most enthusiast-oriented compact economy cars that they'd move so slowly. 2-3 years is a long time in the aftermarket world. Look how fast they came out with parts for the FRS, and they sell a small fraction of those compared to Civic numbers.
 
I'm thinking the majority of Civic sales are just that. Civics.

You're average consumer isn't interested in aesthetic upgrades.

Things would totally different if aftermarket JDM companies, Spoon for example, were involved.
 
ZeroTX said:
This is something that genuinely surprises me... So Honda sold something like 350,000 Civics of the 2013 year model and the vast majority of these are sedans. If even 1,000 owners wanted a body kit, a small company could easily make a profit on 1,000 kits. Why are there absolutely NONE available?

I am interested in this, because I'd like to make the car have a lower to the ground appearance without affecting the ground clearance on the metal parts of the car. Some of the streets in Houston are pretty rough and I also really don't want any rougher than the stock 2014 Si springs (which are MUCH stiffer than the 2013).

Is anyone working on a kit? I don't want anything crazy ninja ricer style, just something simple and smooth like the HFP kit on the coupe or the Modulo kit on the 2012 body style.
Click to expand...
While 350k is probably a close figure to what they sold, not all of those are sedans, and not all of those are SI models. The reality is, the vast majority of non-si owners are not out there getting kits. Sure, there are non-si owners who mod their cars to the max, but a larger percentage of heavy modifications come from SI owners. I cannot find stats for si versus non-si, but there were some figures floating around on the 8th gen boards. A person who worked within honda claimed around 10-15k si models were being produced annually between the coupes/sedans. I don't know what percent of that is coupe/sedan, but that cuts into numbers. Then you have honda producing a car for 2012, and then changing the whole thing up a year later. Then you have them changing it up again a year later. Honda has severely fragmented the aftermarket world on this generation. When aftermarket companies have to deal with making molds and whatnot that pertain to a specific trim level on a car being made for 1 yr, they'll probably go and spend their energy on other projects. Even if you split the sales to 50-50 coupe/sedan, and they had made around 15k total.... they'd be looking at a potential market of around 7 thousand cars. How many out of that 7k would buy?
 
the truth is manufacturer knows they can't make money off 9th gen civic, so they rather use their R&D money on vehicles with better return... which is 9th gen accord & frs/brz.

the only company that i know can develop real body kit is duraflex, but because the sales of duraflex body kit for the coupe suck so bad, they are not even gonna bother making more kits for the 9th gen civic, who knows, maybe they will change their mind...


gross sales will reflect on parts availability....


custom front lip for 13-14 sedan bc calipers 2.jpg
 

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The body on the 2013 sedans are all the same (inclusive of the Si), with the only exception being the rear bumper on the Si.... but the main missing upgrade part is the front splitter/"lip," which would work for all 2013-2014 (and probably 2015) sedans. Assuming that 50k of the 350k annual sales are coupes, that's still already some 600,000 sedans of this body style on the road after this model year concludes (2013 + 2014). It really isn't much of a project to create a decent style and then a fiberglass or poly mold to produce them in China or wherever. I'm sure we'll see them, I'm just surprised at how slowly it's going.
 
Also have to favor in Si Sedan owners who wouldn't even bother with the kits. I think the 2013 Si Sedan is fine without a lip kit.

If Honda produced one, I might consider just the front, but only because it would come painted already. I'm not going to buy one that I have to take somewhere and get painted.

Also, someone posted above about the 13 Sedan already having side skirts. I am curious to see how the side skirts look if you could please post some pictures. Thanks.
 
ericc191 said:
Also have to favor in Si Sedan owners who wouldn't even bother with the kits. I think the 2013 Si Sedan is fine without a lip kit.

If Honda produced one, I might consider just the front, but only because it would come painted already. I'm not going to buy one that I have to take somewhere and get painted.

Also, someone posted above about the 13 Sedan already having side skirts. I am curious to see how the side skirts look if you could please post some pictures. Thanks.
Click to expand...
http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/baysonr-ex-sedan-modulo-lip-kit.6291/
http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/abs-dynamics-lip-kit.5914/
 
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