Honda is trying a bold pricing strategy in my opinion. Base Civic is $$ too.
Honda is trying to follow Toyota and go for premium pricing.
How are the Toyota Corolla premium priced?
The Toyota philosophy as far as I can see is to offer reliable products which are a step behind in terms of power (Corolla 1.8 liter engine power vs Kia Forte or VW Jetta or Honda Civic or even the Nissan Sentra), or a step behind in terms of technology (Lexus vs Mercedes Benz, BMW or Audi) at a similar cash price but then use the Toyota credit rating to arbitrage on low Toyota borrowing costs vs lease/finance costs they charge their customers. Kia, VW, Mercedes Benz corporate bond yields are all higher than Toyota and yet they offer lease/finance terms of 0.99% or even 0% e.g. the current Lexus ES lease is at 5% + for 40 months, the Mercedes Benz C Class is at 0.99%.
How many Toyota/Lexus vehicles are sold for cash vs financed/leased. If you check out lease/finance rates for Toyota/Lexus vs Kia, VW or even Mercedes Benz, over the lifetime of the lease or finance term Toyota will rake in an extra ~$1000-$2000 vs others at the Corolla end of the market and more at the Lexus end of the market.
The premium that Toyota charges is therefore the sum total of cash receipts to Toyota over the lifetime of the lease or finance term, not just the sticker price.
Now the average buyer will also factor in the lower operating costs of the Toyota/Lexus as also the likely higher residual value to ultimately net a lower total cost of ownership. But that is another story.