Honda Civic 2004 News

Only a fraction of the 1.2 million cars on Australia roads with airbags that can spray shrapnel have been fixed, new figures show.

The Honda Civic Hybrid has received technology upgrades, leather trim and two new colours... and a new price of $33,990 (flat paint). Honda's second-generation Insight has also been repositioned, with VT-i price reduced to $26,990 (flat paint) and the VTi-L to $30,490 (flat paint).The current Civic Hybrid receives satellite navigation with SUNA live traffic updates, DVD player, reversing camera with guidelines, Smart Entry and push-button start, daytime running lights and vanity mirror illumination. It also features leather seats in a grey trim and has two new colour options: White Orchid Pearlescent and Carnelian Red Pearlescent ($575 for metallic and pearlescent paint).The five-door Honda Insight hatch with its intuitive cockpit and dual-zone dash features a CVT for smooth and responsive acceleration, Creep Aid System to prevent roll-back momentarily when starting on an incline and of course Honda's unique ECON button with ECO Assist, helping the driver get the most out of each tank of petrol. 

Honda's American newcomers are the Civic sedan being previewed at the show and the production version of the Civic coupe seen at the Detroit Motor Show in January, but eco-friendly engine choices - including the latest hybrid and a car that runs on compressed natural gas - swell the lineup. The new Civic is the ninth new model to wear the badge and Honda has high hopes for a car that's been a best seller for the brand since the 1960s. Honda Australia will only take the four-door Civic seen in the Big Apple and is waiting on the European Civic five-door hatchback to complete its new-model plan for the final months of 2011. The new Civic sedan is good but not great, based on back-to-back comparisons with rivals in New York including the impressive new Subaru Impreza and even the hugely improved Korean contenders from Kia and Hyundai. There is obvious cost-containment work in the cabin, with hard plastics in areas where rivals are nicely soft-touch, and little sign of any adventurous thinking in either the design or execution - even the measurements are almost identical to the current car. Still, the hybrid has had a significant tweak with a larger 1.5-litre petrol engine and lithium-ion battery pack - the first in a Honda - for the new model. Honda Australia will fit the new Civics into a family pattern in Australia, taking the four-door sedan from Thailand and the five-door hatch from the Swindon factory in the UK. "At this stage the plan is still for a local launch around the end of the year," says Mark Higgins, of Honda Australia. "The coupe is very much for north America, so we will only get the sedan from New York. It will be a similar lineup to today, which is a 1.8-litre four, a 2.0-litre four and the hybrid. We will also be taking the hatch from the UK." Pricing for the Civic currently starts at $22,490, with the hybrid from $34,490, and Higgins hints that Honda wants to keep the newcomers close to its existing price points. "We haven't had any discussions on price yet. It's a long way out. Obviously it's a very very competitive segment and we need to make sure we're at the sharp end," he says.

In a time of seismic change in the car industry, Honda has decided its refreshed Civic will soldier on with a light makeover. But Honda Australia is keen to push the refreshed Civic's hybrid credentials, spokesman Mark Higgins saying the current Civic hybrid has turned into the quiet achiever, with sales up 20 per cent this year. It has sold 603 so far this year, up from 501 last year and interest has increased in direct correlation to the rise in fuel prices. “In June we actually outsold the Toyota Prius in the private sector for the first time,” he says. “Toyota has done a great job of promoting hybrids, like we have, but most of their sales are to fleets rather than private buyers. “Our sales are mostly to private buyers.” Higgins says a positive in the Civic hybrid's favour was that it looked like the normal petrol sedan. “The critical thing is that our car looks like a normal Civic and drives like the normal sedan.” He says local dealers have been constrained by a lack of hybrid supply, he says. “The bottom line is that if we could get more we could sell more,” he says. “But in the past six to nine months there has been a huge demand for that car in America and they're taking most of the production now.” The upgraded Civic sedan will arrive in local showrooms early next year, sporting mild visual changes and the same 1.8-litre and 2.0-litre petrol engines as well as the 1.3-litre hybrid four-cylinder available now. The biggest improvement is expected to be the fitting of electronic stability control — Honda calls it vehicle stability assist — as standard. However, Higgins says final specifications are yet to be determined. “VSA is already standard on the Civic Sport,” he says. “We're hoping to introduce it across the range, but that is yet to be confirmed.” The Civic is a key car in Honda Australia's line-up and has benefited from a swing to smaller economical four-cylinder cars. Demand this year is up 15 per cent and the range is responsible for a third of total Honda sales. Honda's other ace up its sleeve is the natural gas Civic, which is selling in record numbers in the US but is unlikely for Australia. “It drives and rides just like a normal Civic,” Higgins says. “And it's the cleanest internal combustion engine in the world.”  

THE replacement for the Honda S2000 has been revealed in Britain. It's a new droptop built up from the hot Civic Type R. Officially, the next S2000 is known only as the Open Study Model and is being displayed at the British International Motor Show as a low-emission roadster. But it does not take much digging to discover the car's Civic roots and a production plan for late next year or early 2010. It is clearly related to the Civic, and Honda in Japan admits it is working on a front-drive two-seater to take over from the S2000 when production ends next year. The S2000 is 10 years old and its unique rear-wheel-drive mechanical package makes it very costly to make. A Civic-based successor opens the way for a more affordable replacement and has the potential for much higher sales. Honda Australia is not saying much about the potential for the Open Study Model. “It's purely a concept hyrid sports car. It shows you can be green and sporty as well,” Honda spokesman Mark Higgins says. “The car was designed by our R&D centre in Germany and is very much a European creation.” It is also a Civic-based creation, with a dashboard that could have come straight from the current Type R hatch. The car follows a stronger “green” direction by Honda, which previewed the CR-Z as a hybrid and has also put its FCX Clarity fuel-cell car into limited production. Honda says the design brief for the Open Study Model is “clean and dynamic”, an approach that means the rear of the body extends into the cabin between the seats. Much of the car is taken from the Civic — including its hidden front-drive mechanical package — and this runs right down to the gearshift in the centre of the dash and a Type R-style ignition start button.  

The biggest recall has hit Toyota, which wants to check 144,500 Camrys for headlights, and nearly 8000 Honda Civics also have light problems.The federal Department of Transport says eight imported cars have been recalled since June 1, even Volvo, which makes safety a key selling point, hasn't escaped, recalling cars to check on a faulty door assembly.The latest recalls are;Audi: A6 built between March 2004 and March 2005 may have a software fault which, in exceptional circumstances, could delay release of both front air bags in an accident. Number of cars, 464.Toyota: Camrys built from June 2002 to May 2006; faulty headlight switch which may cause headlights to flicker or temporarily fail. Number involved, 144,589.Honda: Civic sedan and somes hatches built between 2001 and 2002; problem with plastic terminal connector melting, causing low beam lights to fail. Number, 7979.Volvo: Current model C70 may have incorrect left hand door assembly, so it doesn't meet legal requirements in an accident. Number, 173.Mazda: The Mazda3 MPS built from May 2006 to May 2007 may have a loose bolt securing the engine and transmission to its mounting. If it falls out, the engine may drop, detaching the drive shaft. Number of recalls, 1160. Recall will start next week.