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  The plan for the new Civic opens with four versions of the good looking four-door sedan ...

A $1500 price cut and a five-star ANCAP safety score are the early bait for the all-new Honda Civic.

The new compact is the ninth generation of the once-dominant small car and lands in Australia in early March. It has just matched the upcoming Hyundai Veloster in crash tests and the basic VTi-L manual has a starting price of $20,990 - down from $22,490 on the superseded model. But the Civic will not have an easy run in Australia as even company chief Takanobu Ito admitted to Carsguide last year that Honda had underestimated the improved needed for the new Civic.

The company is already embarking on improvements and, for Australia, will continue the price-cut policy that has driven most of its showroom action for the past six months. Honda Australia prefers to talk about value boosts, but the cuts have hit everything from the Odyssey people mover to the Insight hybrid and popular Accord Euro since last July.

The plan for the new Civic opens with four versions of the good looking four-door sedan, with the Hybrid continuing to sit at the top of the range with a price as high as $36,465 with metallic paint.

The automatic VTi-L starts at $23,290 and the Sport - with leather seats, electric sunroof, 17-inch alloys and automatic wipers - is priced from $27,990. There are expected to be three-door hatches at some time in the future, and Honda Australia will eventually get its cars from Thailand once full production is resumed there, but there is no firm news on the next-generation Type R hot hatch.

Stephen Collins, Honda Australia director, touts advanced technology, improved handling and value as cornerstones for the new Civic.

"We are confident our customers will agree that the Civic is a brilliant package and delivers exceptional value for money," Collins says.

The car continues with a 1.8-litre engine making 104kW/174Nm in the base car, a 2-litre with 114/190 in the Sport - with improved economy - and a 1.5-litre petrol engine and upgraded IMA hybrid system making 82/172 in the Hybrid. Standard features include a multi-function display, auto aircon, cruise control, Bluetooth with audio streaming, iPod connectivity and steering wheel-mounted controls.