Honda Civic 2009 News

"That would be a great first step," according to Honda Australia senior director, Lindsay Smalley."In some states, like the ACT, they also have favourable tax rates on things like stamp duty."Smalley believes more can be done to encourage car buyers into new technology both at a state and federal level. His green message comes as Australia celebrates World Environment Day today.Smalley joined fashion designer, Akira Isogawa, yesterday to promote the event, handing over two Honda Civic hybrid sedans to car share company Flexicar in Melbourne's CBD."There is a natural marketplace resistance to new technology so the Honda hybrid Flexicar will help send a positive message to consumers," Smalley said.Flexicar founder and CEO, Monique Conheady, expects the hybrid Hondas to be popular among the company's 2000 members in Melbourne and Sydney."We've got the cars for a 12-month trial and then definitely we'll put more on," she said."Our customers are asking for hybrid cars."One car would be available at Flagstaff Gardens and the other in Surry Hills, Sydney."We're seeing a lot of referrals but I believe there is much more opportunity to market the concept," she said.The Honda hybrid will cost the same as the smaller Jazz to rent."It was important to send a message to consumers that they did not need to pay more for fuel-saving hybrids," she said.A Flexicar costs between $9 and $13 an hour or $69 to $89 for a whole day including insurance and petrol. Cars can be booked for just an hour or up to three days. The company operates 70 cars, mostly Honda Jazzes, in key inner city areas in Melbourne and Sydney.Flexicar started four years ago with just three cars and a handful of members. The scheme targets high density inner urban areas with good public transport close to drop off and pickup points for its cars."We're seeing a lot of single people become members, particularly those in the inner city areas who don't want to spend money on owning a car," she said."Also, many families use us as the 'second' car."They may already have a family car but occasionally need a second car for short trips."Similar car share schemes operate in the US and Europe and are extremely popular with 900 cities globally participating. Zipcar in the UK and United States, has more than 80,000 people signed up.Smalley also wants hybrids and alternative-powered green cars to get more priority parking spaces. Already some municipal councils and shopping centres are considering such moves. Westfield and Sydney's Darling Harbour exhibition centre already have priority parking for hybrids and Sydney and Melbourne airports have been trialing hybrid parking spots.

The cost of ownership of new-generation alternative fuel cars has also been highlighted at a high-level meeting last week between 10 carmakers and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.The FCAI wants to fast-track a united front by the industry as it prepares car buyers for the rapid growth of green cars. The chamber's chief executive, Andrew McKellar, says there is an urgent need for infrastructure to be in place for electric cars, new-generation plug-in hybrids, ethanol and alternative fuels."There is a sense of urgency in the industry as we have a number of brands preparing to bring in cars with new fuel technologies," he says. "There is a roll for co-ordination across the industry to ensure that we're pursuing a more pro-active strategy to work with all stakeholders."The approach with electric vehicles needs to be seen as one element of a higher strategy that also relates to environmental and green vehicles."These technologies present an enormous global challenge, he says. "Around the world the challenge of achieving enhanced environmental performance is one of the most pressing priorities the car industry has," McKellar says. "In the case of electric vehicles we have one very practical example of an emerging technology that has accelerated in the past few years."Apart from infrastructure needs, the FCAI's electric vehicle working group will identify the types of vehicles expected to be launched as well as technical and registration requirements of new-generation hybrids and plug-in electric cars.Mitsubishi Australia, which hopes to have its i-MIEV electric car on sale soon, was one of the participants at the FCAI meeting. Spokesperson Lenore Fletcher says it is pleasing to see all parties ‘start to find our voice in terms of acceptance’. "We are coming to grips with the requirements of the new technology," she says.Apart from Mitsubishi, Toyota and Honda will soon introduce new hybrids. In addition to the new Prius, Toyota will introducing the hybrid Camry early next year. And GM-Holden is aiming to have its Volt ‘range-extender’ hybrid on sale here by 2012.Despite their emerging popularity, hybrids are still a small part of the overall car scene. Last year about 5200 hybrid passenger vehicles were sold in a market of more than 1 million.Subaru too has tested the electric current by showing of its plug-in Stella, while Mercedes-Benz hopes to have an electric version of its Smart on sale soon, which will be followed by battery-powered A-Class and B-Class hatches."We must ensure that Australia is ready for this technology," McKellar says.

The Japanese carmaker – which offers a hybrid in its Civic line-up, soon to be followed here by the return of the hybrid Insight — will over the next few months introduce Hybrid Priority Parking spots at both airports, and at a major Melbourne shopping centre.And happily for owners of the hybrid Toyota Prius and the various Lexus hybrids, it seems the spaces are available for other brands to use.The priority parking will be available at Melbourne Central shopping complex from Monday 11 May to Saturday 23 May, with the Melbourne Airport spots to follow soon after and Sydney Airport later this year.Three car parks will be available for hybrids, but their placement is still being negotiated.“Due to our long history in hybrid technology, it is only fitting that Honda is first to reward our hybrid drivers,” Honda Australia’s senior director Lindsay Smalley says.“Honda is an industry leader in producing low emission vehicles, dating back to the original Civic in 1972 with its ultra-clean CVCC engine. Since then, Honda has introduced hybrid and natural gas powered cars all over the world and recently launched its 100 per cent emissions-free car, the FCX Clarity.”But Honda is not the first to reward hybrid drivers with priority parking.Lexus got there first with its original LS luxury car, which was given priority parking at the Sydney Opera Centre, the Festival Centre in Adelaide and the Melbourne Arts Centre in 1990.Westfield has been doing a rollout for hybrid spots, while the Darling Harbour exhibition centre in Sydney also has priority parking for hybrid cars.Westfield corporate affairs manager Julia Clarke says four hybrid car parking bays have been installed at the Chatswood and Hornsby centres in recognition that some shoppers have adopted new car technology that is more environmentally friendly. The bays have been in place for around 5 months, and to date have been well received - although it is still early days, she says."We’ll continue to review and at this stage have announced no confirmed plans to introduce at any other centres," Clarke says.

Honda has pumped up the Insight as an affordable and frugal family car — and it looks like the major markets agree.It hasn't yet been on sale for a month in the UK and it has already outsold the Toyota Prius — 229 sales to 198 — while in the US, Japan and Europe it has a waiting list. Honda UK sold 79 Civic Hybrids in the same three-week period.Good news for Honda but it means supply can't match demand in its prime markets so Australia may have to wait.Honda Australia spokesperson Melissa Cross says "there's no timetable"."It will be launched in 2010 but we can't tell you if it's in the first or second half," she said.The Insight is cheaper than the Civic Hybrid with which it will share the Honda showrooms. Later, the CR-Z coupe will join the pair.Part of the success of the Insight in the UK is the government's pro-active 15 per cent annual road tax reduction.On top of its unofficial US fuel consumption of 5.2 litres/100km, it has a high forecast residual rate of 44 per cent and is exempt from London's Congestion Charge.Honda has indicated the US economy may be incorrect, stating that it will match the Civic Hybrid at 4.6 l/100km.Like the Civic version, the Insight has a 1.3-litre, four-cylinder engine mated to an electric motor to work together.Honda's system in the Insight is a smaller, lighter, more powerful yet more frugal version of the Civic Hybrid powertrain.Helping the fuel economy is the Insight's lightweight body that, with a drag coefficient of 0.28, is one of the most aerodynamic cars on the roads.The battery is 31 per cent smaller and 35 per cent lighter than the unit in the Civic Hybrid.Honda expects to sell about 7000 Insights in the UK this year.The annual global sales target is about 200,000 units.

The hatch been on sale in the UK since 1996 but until now exchange rates have prevented the stylish front-driver from lining up in local Honda showrooms.To be called the Si hatch, the five-door complements the hotter Type R but has a smaller 1.8-litre four cylinder engine shared with the sedan.With prices opening at $38,990 for the six-speed manual, rising to $41,290 for the five-speed auto, the Si is batting in some serious European territory and even facing up against the Subaru Impreza WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart hot all-wheel drive turbos.The Civic Si hatch gets the same edgy body shape as the hot 2.0-litre Type R, but its 1.8-litre four cylinder does not pack as much punch.The 1.8-litre engine develops 103kW at 6300 revs and 174Nm at 4300 revs.The engine reaches 100 km/h of 8.6 seconds and delivers a combined fuel economy figure of 6.9 litres/100 km for the manual.Like the Type R, the Si is built at Honda's Swindon plant in the UK and gets a five-star crash rating.The car has been designed with European drivers in mind.The Si has a wide track and comparatively long wheelbase to aid handling.The front suspension uses MacPherson struts with a front subframe to isolate noise and harshness.The rear suspension is a torsion beam setup.Like the Type R, the Si gets electric power steering, anti-skid brakes with brake assist and electronic stability control.Passive safety gear runs to a rear seatbelt reminder system, dual front, side and curtain airbags.Despite its compact dimensions the Si boasts the same rear “magic” seat setup as the Jazz.The rear seat cushion can fold up for extra storage and the seats have one-motion, dive-down feature that creates a flat load area.The front passenger can be reclined to accommodate objects up to 2.6m long and the rear seatbacks split 60/40.The luggage area has 415 litres of space with the seats up. 

Venues like Amaroo Park and -- soon -- Oran Park are becoming distant fond memories in drivers minds.  So the launch of the Marulan Driver Training Centre (MDTC) is timely.Based 20 minutes from Goulburn, the MDTC gives drivers the chance to push their cars hard in a very inviting and safe setting. The track is so tight that you won’t get into the higher cogs… but if you think never getting out of second gear isn’t fun, you need to give this a try. The track is just one kilometer long, so the 12-minute sessions allow at least eight laps each … something unheard of at larger settings.  Not having to worry about changing gear so much also lets you concentrate on what you’re there for -- improving your driving.The track has just about every type of turn, angle, and run you will ever experience on a track or on the street.  Off-camber corners, sharp downhill turns, crests leading into double S-bends, a hairpin, and a main straight right in front of the pits.  Race driver instructors are on-hand all day to give you pointers.  Don’t want to take your own car?  A group of race-prepared MX5s are available for hire there. The design of the track is no accident.  Garry Willmington and his family built the facility, starting in 1991 and drawing on more than 30 years of race knowledge, including multiple Bathurst belt-notches to Willmington’s credit.  A final resurfacing allowed the venue to open in August last year.  Yes, close to 20 years since conception.  One can only shudder at the thought of all the red-tape Willmington went through… and the persistence and determination it requiredThe first event at the MDTC was organised by Circuit Club – a non-CAMs affiliated group that asks for no member fees.  The members are the drivers who turn up on the day.  No strings attached.  And this attitude allowed a variety of drivers to enjoy a particularly well organised day free of pressure.Drivers in a range of cars from stock-standard Astras to full race-spec Civics and Turbo MX5s put their skills to the test.  All up, the track saw a field of 60 different cars over the weekend. All the organisers served as marshals, keeping everyone safe and answering any questions.  I was also treated to a hot lap in Circuit Club director Narada Kudinar’s S2000, and a very nicely tuned Lotus Elise. An organization like this brings a level of experience and professionalism to first-time drivers, so Circuit Club has given me an experience that was out of my reach till now, and one that no one should be afraid of exploring.Being my first track day, my nerves were on edge.  It’s well know that motorsport has risks -- not only to the driver, but to the car.  And my beloved Nissan Skyline is a car I have worked on for the past two years, carefully preparing it for this day: its track baptism. With this in mind, the organisers gave me, and all the other novices, a helping hand through the day.  A slow and steady approach was encouraged to start with.By the end of the day my trusty steed had pulled through with flying colours, with my newly-installed suspension keeping me well planted on the road all day. By the fourth session a hunger hit me for just one thing...  grip.  Until you start pushing your car to the limit, you can’t grasp how much you still have to learn about driving and how poor your `performance’ tyres really are.  So it’s straight off to eBay for me, hunting down a nice set of semi-slicks for the next outing. Yes the track bug has bitten, and bitten hard.  Do yourself and your car a favour and head out to a Circuit Club event.  Trust me, its love at first drift. 

Honda and Toyota had been set for a petrol-electric punch-up in the second half of the year but runaway prices and Japanese demand has meant a delay on the dream match-up in Australia.Toyota will still get its third-generation Prius into showrooms, but the price pressure from the new Insight will not arrive until early in 2010.Until then, Honda Australia will have to soldier on with its under- done Civic Hybrid against the might of the new Prius.It is still planning a sub-$30,000 starting price for the Insight - the second Honda hybrid to wear the badge, but a vast change from the original - but arrival is so far in the future that nothing is confirmed."The plan is to introduce it as soon as possible. We are still hoping and planning for the first half of 2010," says the managing director of Honda Australia, Yasuhide Mizuno."There may be a delay. The reason is that it went on sale in Japan on the sixth of February and in the first four weeks they have taken 18,000 orders. That's against a target of 5000 for the month."Honda has taken aggressive price point in the USA, setting the Insight at the equivalent of $31,256, and Mizuno says he still wants it below $30,000 in Australia."In terms of pricing, we've always said our goal is below $30,000.Depending on exchange rate, obviously," he says."But at the moment the exchange rate would not allow that. Still, we will be pricing it below the Civic hybrid. And volume will be determined by price."While Honda is still battling to get a plan for the Insight, Toyota is much closer with the new Prius."Prius is coming in July. That's always been the timing," says Mike Breen, spokesman for Toyota Australia.But he cannot comment, yet, on how it will be priced."Anything we would say now would be premature. It's too early to say."We want to be competitive. That goes for everything we sell, obviously, but that's true with the Prius."The current starting point for the Prius is $37,400 and Toyota had hoped to undercut it, but that was without the uncertainty in the Australian dollar.But Breen rules out any chance of Toyota going with a two-Prius strategy to cover the price point for the Insight.Toyota is going to run the old and new cars side-by-side in Japan but has ruled out any copycat strategy in the USA or America."There is no plan for that. And there is no plan in the USA, so far as we are aware," Breen says.So, while Australia waits the Prius is being primed and Honda is still waiting."We are delighted with the acceptance of the car into the marketplace, but if that popularity continues in America and Europe that could mean a delay for Australia as they satisfy demand," says Mizuno. 

The Honda Civic hatch was one of the most popular small fours in Australia, so the decision in 2006 to bring out the Thai-built sedan, and not the Euro-styled hatch (with the exception of the top-shelf Type R) was something of a mystery.Honda Australia has finally filled in the gap – not with the Civic hatch, but a different Thai-sourced small car called the City.Today saw the world premiere of the Honda City Concept, which is the final signed-off design car before the model begins production in early 2009.The futuristic concept is practically production. It runs an 88kW/146Nm 1.5-litre SOHC four-cylinder Euro4-compliant engine, and matched to either a five-speed manual or automatic transmission.The City sits on a stretched version of the Jazz platform with a 50mm longer wheelbase, and has a huge 500-litre boot.“We call it a smart new way – it will change the way people think about light sedans,” said Honda’s National Public Relations Manager Mark Higgins.“While it sits on a Jazz platform, its not a chopped hatch with a boot – it is an all new design for the platform, and it’s longer and lower than Jazz.”The production version will feature six airbags, electric power steering, drive by wire throttle, and should start below $20,000 when it launches here in the first quarter of 2009.But this does not preclude the Civic hatch – Honda is still considering the Euro Civic hatch for a mid-2009 release.Honda also announced a new safety initiative on the Civic range - standard vehicle stability assist from the base model upwards.And finally, one more premiere for Honda: a mini virtual car showroom in the palm of your hand.“The iShowroom is possibly the first virtual automotive showroom for the iPod and iPhone,” said Higgins.“It can be downloaded onto your iPhone and iTouch via iTunes. You can view specs, do 360 spins around the car, pick any colour, and find the location of nearest dealer, and on the iPhone, you can ring the dealer direct.” 

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.