New Honda Integra to be developed in Japan, won’t be electric

With one single image and one line of teaser text, Honda’s American arm Acura recently confirmed the return of the Integra nameplate after a lengthy hiatus; to the fanfare of Japanese car fans around the world.

Now, more information about the returning model has been revealed via Acura brand officer Jon Ikeda. Speaking in an interview with Motortrend, he confirmed several points about the model that had formerly been up in the air.

Chiefly, he said that it would be a compact car based on Honda Civic architecture and, at least initially, it will skip electrification. According to Ikeda, this is in order to keep the Integra’s price at an affordable level.

Good news then for enthusiasts … although it’s curious timing given the lack of market interest in cheap two-door coupes.

That said, two doors is not a given. Ikeda wouldn’t confirm it, instead saying that the Integra “is not a replacement for ILX but Integra is our entry gateway vehicle. We don’t plan on having something below that.” The brand is at least open to offering the model in two-door and four-door options; Ikeda giving the question a “maybe”.

In terms of design, an outline leaked to the motoring media from an Acura dealer conference purportedly shows the model’s silhouette. The proportions are very two-door-coupe-like, but not much more can be gauged from it.

The new model will be developed in Japan, but built in the US. It will most likely be built alongside the sister-platform Civic, which itself has just crossed ‘the pond’ following the closure of Honda’s Swindon plant in the UK.

So, is a Type R coming? Possibly. “I am aware people will want an Integra Type S,” says Ikeda. Given the success of the Civic Type R’s launch to North America, it seems inevitable that some form of S or R variant is in the pipeline.