Excitement is building among Honda dealers in Canada over the possibility of retailing the much-anticipated 2023 Type R, which was tested earlier this year as the fastest front-wheel drive car in the world.
Honda Canada has not released any details on the car, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, but did mention it will be delivered sometime in the fall. However, there have been rumours there will only be 569 units, and that the price will start at about $50,000. There are 237 Honda dealerships in Canada, which works out to less than three per dealership.
“It’s a nice halo car for the brand. There’s a racing heritage obviously with Honda, so that’s why they continue to invest in that segment,” said Vince Palladino, President and CEO of Palladino Auto Group, in an interview with Canadian auto dealer.
“Even if it’s not a high-volume product, it says something about the brand and their engineering capabilities. It’s an important product for the Honda brand,” he said, adding that Honda has been fair about giving dealerships at least one Type R car to sell.
“They’re going to do it based on allocation, but typically they try to get a new model like that in the hands of every dealer, so whether larger stores get more it’s usually representative to the volume you produce,” said Palladino. “I think they’ll be fair with it. Although we’re in Sudbury, from a volume standpoint we’re as large as some of the surrounding areas of Toronto.”
Gino Shin, Assistant Sales Manager at Bolton Honda, said from what he understands Honda is hoping to have one or more of the Type R to sell at his dealership to fill as many customer orders as possible.
“It’s getting more difficult because of the shortage in the industry with inventories,” said Shin. “The new Type R has more performance and power. It looks amazing. We’ve kind of stopped taking orders, because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Mathieu Spinelli, Executive Vice-President of the Spinelli Group in Lachine, Quebec, said the car is generating a buzz among consumers similar to the Volkswagen Golf R or the Toyota Supra.
“These vehicles are limited, so maybe that’s part of the excitement, but also there is heritage with the Type R,” said Spinelli.
Larry Lantz, President of Hanover Honda, which is based in Southwestern Ontario, is hoping his dealership will receive at least one car to sell.
“It’s an exciting car and if we get one it will attract attention,” said Lantz. “I just don’t know how limited it’s going to be. I’ve seen lots of information and I haven’t put any on my website or on my Facebook account, because I don’t know if we’re going to get one or not.”
