Next-gen Honda Civic unveiled

Honda has previewed its next-generation Civic for the North American market with a pair of new concepts at the Detroit motor show.

Both the coupe and saloon concepts feature evolutionary styling based around the outgoing European Civic Type R model, also taking inspiration from the CR-Z hybrid.

The next Honda Civic will go on sale in North America by mid-2011, with a modified European version shown later in the year. The models at Detroit are US-only and do not preview the next-gen Civic that will be offered in rest of the markets.

The European Civic will make use of Honda’s next-generation of petrol engines with improved performance, consumption and emissions as well as new transmissions. And the car will also get the firm’s smaller capacity diesel engine currently under development, an engine that will be crucial to boosting volume.

Honda CEO Takanobu Ito said that the firm “must provide good products to our customers with speed, affordability and low CO2 emissions”.

A new Civic Hybrid, a variant of which could make use of Honda’s new plug-in hybrid platform, will be launched in 2012.