The all-new Swindon built Honda Civic goes in sale in the UK from January 2006, starting at around £12,500. We are still waiting for the next Type R.Initially only five-door models will be available at prices starting from £12,685 with three-door versions going on sale later next year. Production of a replacement for the current Civic Type R has yet to be confirmed. Retail prices for the 24 variants in the new line-up range up to £18,100, all considerably more expensive than the outgoing models. Honda says this is because two of the three engine options are new and larger in capacity, and the car is new throughout.Up until recently Honda had a reputation for building conservatively styled, well made, long lasting functional vehicles, all the attributes favoured by older customers. Although sales to the over fifties has created continued growth for Honda in the UK and the rest of Europe, younger buyers have not been attracted in great numbers to the brand.The Honda Jazz supermini, CR-V 4x4, FR-V medium sized MPV and Honda's revolutionary 2.2-litre all aluminium diesel engine, together with F1 racing exposure have gone some way to raising the brand's profile for younger buyers. Just as important for Honda's growth is their urgent need to penetrate the fleet and business users chooser market sectors. The new Civic and revised Accord, particularly diesel variants, will be the main models to do this.This week at the UK press launch of the all-new Civic, Honda UK said the car is critical for their future. If we are successful with this car we will be successful with the brand. In other words it must appeal to more younger buyers than before, otherwise in the end we will just run out of customers. Important to Honda's successJust how important Civic is to Honda's success is revealed in the following figures. Over 16 million Civics covering seven generations covering 33 years have been sold worldwide. The Civic accounts for 30 per cent of Honda's worldwide sales and 40 per cent of sales in Europe. Honda's European sales of Civic will increase to around 100,000 units a year with the new range and 35,000 will be sold in the UK once the range is complete. Ninety thousand Civics a year will be built at Swindon for the European market. The Swindon plant with 4,000 employees, produces 193,000 vehicles a year, 1,000 engines a day and is Honda's only factory making Civic three and five door models. The Civic saloon with its hybrid IMA power source is exported from Japan.The new Civic is targeted at premium C segment car buyers where medium sized cars such as the VW Golf, Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series are the main sellers. Forty per cent of all UK Civic sales will be accounted for by the 2.2-litre i-CDTi diesel models, 45 per cent of customers will opt for the new 1.8 petrol engine and 15 per cent will buy 1.4-litre petrol models. Overall 60 per cent of total sales will come from private customers.An all-new 1.8-litre i-VTEC petrol engine is included in the engine line up together with the diesel unit, both manufactured at Swindon, plus a 1.4-litre i-DSI direct injection petrol unit. A 6-speed manual transmission is standard for all five-door Civics and an i-SHIFT auto/manual transmission is an option for both petrol engined models.The new target customer for Civic will have an average age of 25-40 years as opposed to 58 years for the current models. Honda hopes there will be a 50-50 split in demand between male and female buyers, currently it is 61-39. Radical designHonda UK is marketing the new Civic with two major themes. One is the car's radical (for Honda) styling and other is the car's Britishness.Although the initial core design was done in Japan the final design and development was carried out in 11 countries worldwide and regular testing was carried out in Europe to fine-tune the performance. One hundred designers and production engineers from the UK have visited Honda in Japan during the Civics' conceptual period to give their input into the final design before the car went into production.The Civic in concept form was first revealed at the Geneva Motor show last March with the production version shown for the first time in public at the Frankfurt Show last September. The concept caused a stir with show goers because of its radical design and observers were still more impressed in September when they saw just how close in design the production car was to the original concept vehicle. So designed in part in Britain, built in Britain with British workers with many components sourced in Britain sends out a strong message of Britishness.The new Civic is marginally shorter and lower than the outgoing model but interior space, particularly in the rear, is larger as is the luggage space due to the clever rear seats. These have the functions for the seat squabs to fold up or you can fold the seats down completely to provide a large flat load area floor. The rear doors now open to 90 degrees to allow easier rear seat access although the low doorframe can be restrictive for tall passengers. Once inside the car the headroom is good. 'Super wedge shape'The Civic adopts a 'super wedge shape' say Honda following styling lines with sharp edges taken from the traditional Japanese Kimono dress, not quite so British in this instance.The facia design gives the Civic a Starship Enterprise appearance with upper and lower cowled and curved panels. In the centre of the lower panel is a large rev counter incorporating easily read instruments. The upper facia panel includes a digital speedometer. All controls and switchgear fall neatly to hand around a futuristic steering wheel.Overall the interior layout is very smart and refreshingly different. The exterior has the same good looks overall with the attention to detail styling features such as the hidden rear door handles, triangular exhaust tailpipes and the self cleaning rear tailgate window with built in mid height spoiler.The handling is sharp too. A torsionally stiff bodyshell with compliant suspension and a fast response steering system gives the Civic pin-point accuracy in handling, it is such a more pleasing and rewarding car to drive than the current model.Although the 1.8-litre i-VTEC petrol model with ES specification priced at £15,400 is expected to be the best selling model, it is the 2.2 i-CDTi Sport priced at £16,600 that is marginally the most rewarding to drive, but they are both very good. The Sport specification with larger 17 inch wheels and more engine torque makes it overall a better handling and more responsive car. The top speed is 127mph with a 0-62mph time of 8.6 seconds.During the brief test drive the 1.8 petrol model returned an impressive 38.4mpg but the diesel model did less well with 34mpg, well below the quoted average consumption of 53.3mpg. Because of the £1,500 price premium being charged by Honda for their new diesel engine over their new petrol engine, most private buyers will opt for the petrol versions whilst high mileage business users will go diesel I suspect.
