Honda aims to lift Civic

The latest model of the Japanese compact has been criticised for its lack of innovation and quality, and has even been struck from the list of recommended models at the influential Consumer Guide in the USA for the first time. The new Honda Civic sedan hits Australia towards the middle of next year, with the five-door hatch to follow, as the global head of Honda promises significant upgrades to counter the criticism.

"We will continue to make improvements on a daily basis," the president of Honda Motor Company, Takanobu Ito, promises during a Carsguide interview.

He is taking responsibility for the car's shortcomings and admits Honda underestimated its opposition, as well as the level of improvement needed over the previous model, when developing the Civic.

"I believe that the ultimate responsibility for the Civic rests with me. Right now we are trying to work out the best actions possible in response," he says. "We might have underestimated the competition to a certain extent."

In Honda's defence, Ito says he believes the previous-generation Civic was well ahead of its rivals and that might have led to decisions that did not push hard enough on the new car.

"The previous Civic was something of a major surprise to the world, it was extremely advanced, and therefore the concept for this current Civic was trying to carry over the concept. We look at the history of the Civic model. We are constantly aiming towards more advanced features and carrying out development of the new Civic."

He admits Honda has been stung by the poor reception for the car.

"Thought we think this new Civic has competitiveness, we are aware of the fact that in the United States and some other places, there are people who are criticising and saying that it is not up to their expectations. We have to sincerely listen to those voices and accept those opinions as such. In this situation it is true that we lacked the capability to understand beforehand that such reactions might have come about. We should have studied these things more carefully."

Still, he believes Honda's effort with the previous Civic also spurred its opposition in development of cars which are now making things tough for Honda.

"I think the competitors felt threatened looking at the previous Civic and they have come up with very competitive products. And, again, I think we might not have fully assessed this happening among the competitors. So we might have underestimated the competition to a certain extent."