With Honda launching the Civic Type R (FK8) Limited Edition in Europe and America, rumours are surfacing that the FK8 is due for a replacement very soon.

This scoop comes from Japan’s Best Car which speculated that the development of the next-gen Civic is in progress and set to be launched in 2021.

This means that the FK8 will be replaced soon, perhaps sometime in 2022 and it could even share some tech with Honda’s halo supercar.

According to Best Car, the next-gen Type R could reuse the same 2.0-litre engine as the FK8 but performance could be increased to 400 PS. It also claims that the Type R will be utilising similar hybrid technology as the Honda NSX’s SH-AWD system.

Before you Honda fanboys get out your pickaxes and start to chant “Save the VTEC!”, the next-gen Type R will not be a hybrid hot hatch. The electric motors are merely to drive the rear wheels, adopting a torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive layout while the front axles will still be driven by a combustion engine.

With the next Type R scheduled for launch in 2022, the hot hatch segment will be exciting. By then, we’ll see it competing against the Mk 8 Volkswagen Golf GTi and potentially the Toyota Corolla GR as well as Hyundai’s own successor to the i30N. Will 2022 be an epic year for hot hatches?