The 9th generation Civic debuted nearly 3.5 years ago as a 2012 model. Honda model cycles typically span 5 years for their volume cars (their light trucks seem to be on a different cycle), but the lifecycle of the FB6/FG4 has been anything but typical, and in fact, signs are pointing to the introduction of an all-new 10th generation Civic as early as next year (2016 model year).

What does this mean? On top of this bizarre life cycle evolution, we've been hearing rumors for some time that Honda would be cutting the typical 5-year model cycle short by a year for the current (9th) generation Civic body style. We've even heard that the new model could debut at an east coast auto show as early as the spring of 2015. This information would point to a 2016 model year designation for the all-new, 10th generation Civic, and these spy photos of a heavily camouflaged, yet nearly finished looking test car seem to lend some credibility to these rumors.

For the first time, the Civic will share a common platform with the Accord. There are rumors that we may even see a hatchback model as well as our own North American version of the Civic Type R. What this means is that it will probably get some form of the upcoming European Civic Type R's Turbo VTEC powertrain, but obviously the US-version will run on its own chassis.