Honda will reestablish small car leadership with 2006 Civic

It's a bold claim, I know. After reading this article about the Civic's new 1.8L engine, however, I have become even more convinced that Honda will maintain its reputation of selling the best small cars in the U.S. It seems the domestics are still fielding cars that can barely compete with the last generation Civic, while Honda is preparing a full line-up that includes a mainstream sedan and coupe with extremely high-tech powerplants, as well as both the Civic Hybrid and Si. None of the domestics have even bothered with the hybrid treatment and Ford doesn't even have the SVT Focus anymore. (Are you listening, Bill?)