Honda’s new Civic Type R, spotted by photographers in Germany while it was being tested, has a mean look unlike others: gold wheels, front air dam, and what I think is the coolest, the blistered front fender extensions. This brand new Civic Type R has Honda’s latest 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that produces 276hp and a six-speed manual transmission. Although it is incredibly powerful like a lot of American cars, it is not going to be sold in the US. There has been an online petition about finding a way to take this prototype into the US.
Now should Civic Type R be imported? We all know that automakers cannot sell any car they built in any country they want. Different countries have different emissions and safety standards to limit the access of certain types of vehicles. There are also cases that the same types of cars being sold in two countries have different kinds of auto parts. For example the Honda Fit in America and in Japan has different headlights and bumpers. Therefore in order to meet the standards of the US, Honda might have to pay a huge amount of money to change a certain feature of the vehicle. The Civic Type R is going to cost about 22,000 euros in Europe. I could imagine the price in US would be around $30,000 given the exchange rates and some cost to meet the standards. Now think about it again, how many people will buy a $30,000 Honda Civic here? Would Honda really be willing to put in huge amount of money to meet the standards, and bring in an extremely tough sell?
Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2014/05/13/honda-civic-type-r-undisguised-spy-shots
I see your point of not a big group willing to buy the Honda Civic for $30000, but you also have to consider lower taxes when estimating the price difference between the US and Europe, that would make it cheaper. Anyways, I still agree with you on that it would not be worth it for Honda to bring it, unless they are trying to change their image by adding a more sporty model to the fleet.