Honda teases 2012 Civic before Detroit debut

Here's our first official glimpse at the face of the next-generation Honda Civic. This sketch is intended to give the world an idea of what we can expect from the Civic show car Honda will display at the Detroit Auto Show in January. From the looks of things, the compact coupe will take the look of the current Civic and throw in some additional attitude. Along with some aggressively swept headlamps reminiscent of the European Civic Type R, the sketch also shows off a fascia with more menacing proportions. A large air inlet down low and slit fog lights help pull the car from the throws of anonymity.

Of course, it's always difficult to tell what will survive the transition between design sketch and reality. We don't expect to see those huge wheels nor the wildly flared hips make their way to production. Speaking of production, Honda has a long history of rolling out concepts that are nearly identical to the real deal, so keep your eyes on Detroit for what could be the first look at the next Civic.

[Source: Honda]