Honda today announced that it has three premieres for the event. The first one is the Civic Wagon Concept, which the Japanese company says will provide “strong cues” for the production model that will be added to the European C-segment model’s line-up, likely within the next year or so.
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Much like the "M" and "S" styling kits offered by BMW and Audi respectively, the Japanese brand's Aero Pack enhances the five-door model with a newly designed front bumper with the top section finished in a body-matching colour and the lower in a carbon-inspired look, while the rear end of the car gains a different bumper in the same finishes.
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Honda got pretty upset about the press’ reaction to its 2012 U.S. market Civic to the extent that it gave it a makeover just in time for the 2013 model year. Introducing a significantly improved model 18 months later must be an industry first – but then again, reviews like the one published by Consumer Reports apparently were too much to bear, even if sales soared.
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As you may be aware by now, that’s exactly what happened just 18 months ago when the Japanese carmaker revealed the ninth generation of the Civic: it got panned by Consumer Reports, which denied it a “recommended” rating and dropped it to the bottom of its list. As a result, CEO Takanobu Ito apologized in public and the company rushed in a facelift.
In spite of the 2012 Civic sales being up 40 percent, to 234,029 units, through September, making Honda’s compact model the sixth best-selling car in the U.S., its replacement was unveiled at the LA Auto Show.
The 2013 Civic has received a host of changes that seek to address criticism aimed at the 2012 model. The Coupe remains unchanged, save for new wheels, but the sedan features a black honeycomb mesh grille, new clear-lens corner lights and a taller, more sculpted hood up front and a new trunk lid, taillights and restyled bumper at the rear.
To be more specific, what we have here are the first photos of the car's updated interior and the exterior of the sportier Civic Si edition, which follow an earlier pair of images showing the mid-level EX-L grade.
Honda has taken a lot of flak from the press for the current generation Civic's interior. Consumer Reports, for example, had said that the cabin "feels cheap" and is "a letdown from previous Civics".
From this image, we see that Honda has made some changes to the design of the dashboard, which now features a new center section with different air vents, new controls for the air conditioning system and at least in this grade, more upscale trim with silver finishes and leather padding on the passenger side and the upper parts of the door panels.
It all started with a hammering of the (North American market) ninth generation of the Honda Civic by Consumer Reports, which dropped the car from its "Recommended List" and continued with an admission from Honda Motor CEO Takanobu Ito that the compact model wasn't what it should have been.
Surprisingly, despite all the pounding from the press, the Civic increased its sales this year by 40 percent through September, to 234,029 units…
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Following its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show in September and before it goes on sale in January of 2013, Honda announced pricing for the 1.6 i-DTEC Civic that starts from £19,400 (equal to US$31,100 or €24,200) for the base SE model, rising to £20,595 for the ES and £23,175 for the top-of-the-range EX.
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One would expect its sales to slump; but instead, they have gotten through the roof. Civic deliveries have increased this year by 40 percent through September, to 234,029 units and Honda’s compact car is on course to regain the segment crown in the U.S. after finishing third last year behind the Toyota Corolla and Chevrolet Cruze.
This brings up an interesting question: how much does automotive experts’ testing weigh on buyers’ decision when the time comes to buy a new car?
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The Japanese carmaker said that it will offer customers purchasing a new 2012 Civic Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) at participating dealers from now until January 2, 2013, a debit card pre-loaded with $3,000 worth of fuel.
As always, there's some small print including that the card can only be used at Clean Energy CNG fueling stations around the country to purchase fuel. There are approximately 150 Clean Energy filling stations in the U.S., 40 of which are located inside California.
According to the most recent Department of Energy, Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price report on fuel prices, the nation-wide average price of natural gas fuel for vehicles in July was $2.05 per equivalent gasoline gallon.
Now, the Japanese automaker has confirmed that both of these two new derivatives of its compact model will be manufactured at the company's UK plant in Swindon, which also uniquely produces the Civic five-door hatchback that is then exported throughout Europe and globally.
The VW Golf GTI-rivaling Civic Type R hot hatch is scheduled for production in 2015 while the Wagon, seen here in a teaser picture, will make its global debut as a thinly disguised concept most likely at the Geneva Salon in March or the Frankfurt Motor Show in September of 2013.
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Today, Honda's European President Manabu Nishimae revealed plans to add a new model to the carmaker's range during his Paris Motor Show press conference.
The vehicle announced today is a new derivative of Honda's European Civic in the form of a station wagon model. Honda went one step further and released a teaser image of the pre-production concept that will be shown next year, most likely at the Geneva Salon in March or the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.
We are going to start with the new Honda Civic Type R sports hatchback based on the European market model that is currently undergoing development for an introduction in 2015.
Honda said that this model is designed specifically for the European market, though we could see it being exported to Japan at some point. More importantly, the Japanese carmaker's CEO stated that the Type R is being developed "with the goal of becoming the fastest front-wheel-drive vehicle on the Nürburgring race course".
On a more global note, Ito said that Honda will roll out an all-new replacement for the Fit, also known as the Jazz in Europe, in 2013. Within two years after the initial market presentation, the Japanese automaker will launch a small SUV model based on the underpinnings of the new Fit/Jazz as well as a replacement for the related City small sedan.
Said to be inspired by Honda's British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) Civic, the Ti is based on the 1.8-liter i-VTEC SE petrol model adding cosmetic enhancements such as 17-inch "Le Mans" alloy rims and color-coded wheel arches on the outside and leather-wrapped steering wheel and gearknob, plus Bluetooth connectivity on the inside, but no chassis or engine modifications.
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The 1.6-liter i-DTEC is the first engine in Europe to feature Honda's Earth Dreams Technology series (in North America, the automaker introduced the series with the new Accord's 2.4-liter petrol unit).
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We don't know why the driver of the grey-colored, older generation Honda Civic depicted in this dashcam footage wasn't paying attention to the road, but whatever the reason, he slightly steered off his lane and touched the corner of the Chevrolet Cruze's rear bumper that was in front of him at a relatively low speed.
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Joining the 263-horsepower MazdaSpeed3 that made a guest appearance in the previous episode (see here) as well, is the latest Honda Civic Coupe Si, which is powered by a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter inline-four cranking out 201-ponies.
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During a warm summer day packed with plenty of fun and games with his friends - allegedly in New Hampshire, he decided to do some water sliding over the hood of a Honda Civic and on to a wet plastic sheet, all while holding a beer can in his hand.
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To make a point about the association between its production cars and the race circuit, Honda released a video that documents the transformation of a stock 2012 Civic Si Coupe into a competition model for the Pirelli World Challenge or Grand Am series from its Compass360 Racing partner.
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