Europe's Honda Civic hatchback spills out ahead of Frankfurt debut

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:29:00 EST

Honda has released a smattering of images that give us lots more to chew on when it comes to the brand-spankin'-new European edition of the 2012 Civic.

It's been said before, and we're going to say it again: The European-market Civic hatchback is much funkier and - to our eyes, at least - more attractive than its North American equivalent. Some things never change. According to Honda, design inspiration for the latest Euro Civic came from "a 'blended wing body' airplane in which the fuselage and wings blend into a single body for superior aerodynamic performance." Alrighty then.

In any case, the new body blends sharp new headlamps and more assertive fender flares with a unique Y-shaped blacked-out front fascia, but it shares design elements with the successful last-generation five-door, including a split-glass hatch area and rear door handles hidden in the C-pillar.

There aren't any details just yet on what's underneath that form-fitting sheetmetal, but we're sure the typical small-displacement gasoline and diesel powerplants will be on offer along with various automatic and manual gearboxes. The automaker is claiming reduced carbon emissions (a given these days), improved ride and handling and class-leading interior space.

We'll be getting an official debut from the floor of the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, but in the meantime, we suggest you browse through our high-res gallery of images and check out the brief press release after the break.

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Europe's Honda Civic hatchback spills out ahead of Frankfurt debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Honda UK Sales Going Strong

Alex Nunez — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 19:04:00 EST

Filed under: Budget, Etc., Europe, Marketing/Advertising, Hatchback, Ford, Honda

While the total market for UK car sales is down over 4% compared to last year, Honda is bucking that trend and showing 2% growth, thanks in large part to the strength the new 5-door Civic and the continued success of the Jazz (that's what the Fit is called in Europe) and CR-V.

The British-built Civic 5-Door is the UK division's top mover, tallying over 16,000 sales so far. It has outperformed what the entire Civic range did up to this point in time last year, and it has yet to be joined in the marketplace by the Civic 3-door (to be unveiled next month) and the new Civic Type R (coming next year).

The Honda Jazz is next with 14,000+ sales to date. Both Civic and Jazz are retaining value, too. Over the first six to ten months of ownership, Civic keeps 97% of its retail value, while Jazz is only slightly behind at 95%.

As successful as they are, however, the two big volume sellers for Honda UK are still runners-up in their respective classes. At this time, Civic is #2 behind the Ford Focus and Jazz plays second fiddle to the Ford Fiesta.

Next year could be a different story, as Civic, with a 3-car lineup in its corner, goes toe-to-toe with Focus for the top spot. There's a lot to like about both cars, so it'll be interesting to follow from afar.

Sadly, that's all North American fans will be able to do, as the UK-spec Civic and Focus are forbidden fruit this side of the pond.

(Press release with YTD sales numbers after the jump)

[Source: Honda UK]

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