Honda Civic Concept
By Motoring Channel Staff
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Honda Civic Concept
Honda's new small car has been designed
specifically to appeal to European markets
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The unveiling of the Civic Concept at the '05 Geneva Motor
Show was no mistake.
Normally such a car would be saved for the Tokyo Motor Show,
but the five door hatchback has been exclusively developed
for the European market.
The styling of the Civic Concept is very close to that of
the mass production model that will be introduced in early
2006. It was designed to appeal to customers' emotions, with
a wider and lower body that achieves a distinct sporty style.
The model previews the all-new eighth generation Civic which
will continue to be built at Honda's Swindon manufacturing
plant – and which will be sold worldwide in two, three, four
and five-door variants.
Honda will continue to offer an IMA (petrol electric) 4-door
Civic for Europe and in other markets a natural gas powered
model.
The concept car on display shows the intention of moving the
new Civic into a more sporty, emotional and fun to drive direction,
while retaining the user friendliness and practical features
which have made the existing model so successful.
An interesting fact: Civic continues to be the top selling
British built hatchback in its class in the UK.
The new model will offer class-leading performance with excellent
environmental and safety technologies. It will feature the
award-winning 2.2 i-CTDi diesel engine, as well as a state-of-the-art
petrol engine line up.
In the area of safety, every model in the new Civic line-up
is planned to be equipped with the most advanced features
in its class, including Vehicle Stability Assist system and
side curtain airbags.
Unveiling the Civic Concept at the Geneva show, Honda's
president Takeo Fukui said: "With all of these changes, the
all-new Civic will shift toward the premium end of the class
… while providing a true fun-to-drive spirit. And we plan
to set a new benchmark in the C-segment based on the quality
and performance of the new car.
"Regarding production, we have long produced Civic for
European markets at Honda's UK plant. Now, beginning with
this all-new Civic, we are advancing this commitment by introducing
diesel engine assembly in Swindon," concluded Fukui.
The Civic has been Honda's best selling model globally,
with the model accounting for 30% of total Honda sales. Annual
numbers exceed 500,000 – of which 84,000 are sold in Europe
– and over 16 million have been produced and sold around the
world over the past 33 years.
Civic has frequently been the carrier for Honda introducing
new technology for mass consumption, and according to Honda,
the next generation will be no exception.
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