Honda Will Pause Production of One of Our Favorite Manual-Equipped Cars After 2026

• Production of the Honda Civic Si and manual-transmission Acura Integra A-Spec will pause after the 2026 model year, Honda confirmed to Car and Driver.
• Both sporty compact sedans will return, Honda said, but there was no specific timeline provided.
• The news first emerged in an alleged leaked email, which said the reason for the hiatus was an issue with EPA certification.

Manual transmission cars become rarer with each passing year in the United States, and now two stick-shift options are set to take a sabbatical. Yesterday, a Reddit post alleged that an email sent to employees at Honda's factory in Alliston, Ontario, said production of the Civic Si and manual-equipped Acura Integra A-Spec would be paused, and now Honda has confirmed the news to Car and Driver.

"Due to evolving business conditions, production of the 1.5-liter turbocharged engine paired to the 6-speed manual transmission (6MT) will be paused at the conclusion of the 2026 model year," said a statement from Honda. "In the U.S., this powertrain is available in the Honda Civic Si and Acura Integra A-Spec."

While Honda didn't confirm the reason for the break, the alleged leaked email pointed to EPA regulations required for certifying the powertrain for the 2027 model year and beyond. Thankfully, the pause will be only temporary.

"Importantly, Honda and Acura currently plan for both trims to return to the lineup, and American Honda expects to share more details at the appropriate time," the company said. The two manual-equipped compact sedans are expected to remain in dealer inventory into early 2027.

The leaked email also stated that this change will not affect the overall output of the plant, with production of these models set to be replaced for the time being with other Civic trims. This high-performance Civic Type R and Integra Type S, both also fitted with a manual transmission, will not be affected; the Honda is built in Japan, and the Acura is built in Marysville, Ohio.

It's unclear exactly when the Civic Si and manual-transmission Integra A-Spec will return, and it's possible that the delay will last long enough that they could skip the 2027 model year entirely. Hopefully it won't be too long until we have good news to share about these two stick-shift cars, but if you want one now, you'd better act fast.

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Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.