Waise if I remember correctly, taking about Pakistan, people loved the 1999-2000 model which wasn't too much different from the previous model. The 7th Generation was not liked by the masses in the beginning. But now people still love the face-lifted version of 7th Gen. When 8th Generation a.k.a. Reborn was launched, people didn't like it either in the very beginning because of certain reasons and liked the 7th Gen. more. With the passage of time, they fell in love with it as well and are now not liking the 9th Gen. Lets see whether they fall in love with the 9th Gen. again or not.
The reviews are showing a major drop in the popularity graph of Civic which is not nice. Was not expecting Honda to lose its place.
p.s. This is my observation based on the remarks and comments of different people I witnessed during all these years.