Honda Civic 2014 News

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.”  

They are hybrids and the best-known is the Toyota Prius, though there is a range of Lexus hybrids up to the flagship LS600hL.

But picking up the keys for my new car, little did I know that within days I would be $333 out of pocket. And that's not counting the cost of my humiliation. The exorbitant fee was not a hire cost. Nor was it the cost of petrol or any other hidden costs. It was the price of my mistake that saw me reluctantly handing over my credit card to unsympathetic Adelaide City Council bureaucrats. It all started two days after one of The Advertiser motoring writers handed me the keys, telling me to enjoy my new wheels. Pulling up in an on-street car park, I was impressed at how smoothly the Civic glided into place. Never before had parallel parking been so easy. Returning two hours later, I was a little bemused to not recognise my car anywhere. Don't panic, I thought. These new cars all look the same. And for some reason, many of the cars in the street had Victorian numberplates like mine. Clinging to hope, I walked along the line of parked cars pressing the alarm button on my key waiting to see those familiar flashing lights. But there was no flashing. My bemusement quickly turned to panic. "It's been stolen," I cried to my equally panicked companion. "I can't believe it. I'm sure I parked it right here," I said, pointing to a vacant space. It was now his turn to look bemused. "Um, that's in front of a garage roller door," he said. That's how I ended up in the council offices the next morning – paying the costs of my car being towed from the front of a serviced apartment block's roller door and stored overnight, plus a $48 parking ticket. But even in my short time with this stylish vehicle, I learned there were many things to love. For a so-called "small sedan", this baby has plenty of room to move and a large boot which means adequate space for all those shopping bags. And for a girl whose usual mode of transport is a 1.2-litre two-door hatch, I loved the grunt of this 1.8-litre "beast". One touch of the accelerator and off you zoom. The interior light that automatically turns on when you turn the engine off is a nice little touch. It fades out when you shut the door. There really wasn't much not to like. Only a couple of little nitpicks – the dash gear display and tacho were partially obstructed by the steering wheel, at least from my position, and the handbrake got a bit in the way of the gear shift. So, towing ordeals aside, this beauty surpassed my expectations and was a pleasure to drive – from what I can remember of our few hours together. LOVE IT LEAVE IT Honda Civic VTi Auto Price: $22,990 LOVE IT The power. The roominess cleverly combined with a sleek design. Electric seat adjustment. Automatic interior light. Digital speed display. LEAVE IT With the seat adjusted, I found it hard to see the front left-hand side of the car. Dash gear display and tacho partially blocked by the steering wheel. Handbrake a bit in the way of gear shift.