FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: Honda teases new Civic hatchback

Japanese carmaker continues the drip-feed for revamped Civic hatchback, due to debut at imminent Frankfurt motor show
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We’ve already shown you a heavily disguised prototype of the new Honda Civic hatchback being put through its paces, but now its maker has provided the first glimpse of the car sans any disguise.

Due on sale in 2012, the next-gen Civic hatchback is due to be revealed at the upcoming Frankfurt motor show, having been put through a punishing test program taking in the vast array of road surfaces encountered in Europe.

The teaser image released for now reveals a dramatically restyled derriere, with a pair of LED-rich taillight clusters shaped to resemble wings. As per its CR-Z sibling, the rear windscreen is a split design divided by a high-set LED bar that connects the left and right taillights. This strip also manages the airflow over the rear of the car.

The new Civic’s shape is said to be more aerodynamic than that of its predecessor, and
Honda claims F1 engineers were drafted in to optimise its profile. Among the other attributes said to be improved are visibility, performance and fuel consumption.

The company is also promising a “'two generation” step in ride quality, even though the new car retains the torsion-beam rear suspension of its predecessor – albeit now benefiting from liquid-filled compliance bushings.

Among the powertrain options for the new Civic will be a 2.2-litre i-DTEC diesel engine that has been uprated to eke out 110kW and 350Nm, while spewing just 110 grams of CO2 per kilometre.

The UK-built 2012 Civic hatchback follows in the wheeltracks of the new Civic sedan that debuted in concept form at January’s Detroit motor show and then in showroom-ready form at April’s New York show.

The new-gen Thai-built sedan is also due on sale here next year, which should help Honda regain some lost volume in the small-car segment.

The existing Civic managed to notch up just 4380 Australian sales during the first seven months of the year, well adrift of the segment-leading Mazda3 (24,502 sales), Holden Cruze (19,452), Toyota Corolla (18,278) and Hyundai i30 (17,144).

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