Honda Civic a stunner

The Euro Civic streams in with a black front fascia, setting off sharply-angled headlights and strong molding around the lower fascia. We’re not so sure about the pondslime green that Honda has used as its hero colour for the car in the first images.

But it’s a testament to the standard of design that the car can look this good in that bilious colour. According to the press statement, the body sculpting was intended to “keep the sporty and advanced elements of the car's character but … communicate the new model's more dynamic feel. Sources of inspiration included a 'blended wing body' aeroplane in which the fuselage and wings blend into a single body for superior aerodynamic performance.”

The bold new hatch will sit alongside the conservative sedan when Honda totally renews its Civic line-up in Australia. The five-door Civic is unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show with the promise of improved cabin quality and better driving dynamics, a move that could work well for a car that will sit in showrooms beside the US-focussed sedan revealed earlier this year at the New York motor show.

Honda ran a two-month teaser campaign before finally showing the Civic on the opening day in Frankfurt. The end result is a car with more promise and more punch, although it will be impossible to really rate the British-built hatch until it lands in Australia. It is already confirmed in a strategy which will combine the British hatch with the sedan that is now built in Thailand.