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Michael Taylor2 Apr 2015
NEWS

NEW YORK MOTOR SHOW: Honda's next Civic

It seemed like only yesterday that Honda was delivering a new Civic. Now it’s hinting at another one

Honda has shown a coupe concept car that provides the strongest hints yet that it plans to short-cycle the current Civic.

The Japanese car-maker showed a concept Civic Coupe in New York that is an evolution from the uniquely styled ninth-generation Civic.

Due early-to-mid next year – in the middle of the current Civic-based Type-R hot-hatch's global rollout -- the 10th generation of the venerable Civic will come in three- and five-door hatchbacks as well as a sedan and a three-door coupe.

While Honda was coy on powertrain options for the new Civic, it is expected to receive 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder in-line powerplants matched to six-speed manual and CVT transmissions, driving the front wheels only.

Based around a new global platform that has taken three years to develop, it has been largely engineered at Honda’s Ohio technical centre and designed in California.

Given that a huge proportion of Civics is built in Swindon, England, this 10th generation is probably the least Japanese Civic in the badge’s history.

“This is the first time the Civic has been born in America,” Honda designer Guy Melville-Brown said.

Honda Europe is developing the hatchback model, and it will once again be produced at the Swindon plant in the UK. The British-built five-door Civic hatch will return to the US.

While the concept car hints at it, Melville-Brown said the car’s proportions would be sportier than the current model, with shorter overhangs at both ends and a windscreen pushed back further along the car.

“It shifts away from the car-forward design,” he said. “This vehicle puts a huge focus back on the fun of driving. It’s the most epic, sportiest, most high-tech Civic ever made.”

Honda says its new Civic will "target class-leading levels of safety performance" with a range of Honda Sensing driver aids including Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Warning, Multi-Angle Rearview Camera, Adaptive Cruise Control and Honda LaneWatch.

Honda's current Civic sedan and hatch was released in Australia in 2012.

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Written byMichael Taylor
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