News on Honda Civic

For its very first 6 generations, the Honda Civic was over a four-year lifecycle. Mk 7 went to 5 years, nevertheless better than most its competition. And that's what was supposed to take place with the present design (pictured), which we named 2006 Vehicle of the 12 months. The Mk 8 Civic's styling even now is cutting edge compared with most other compacts, like the Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, and two cars soon to be replaced, the Chevrolet Cobalt and Ford Focus. So what's the issue?

The Civic's replacement has long been delayed a yr on the 2012 model, placing the present automobile on a six-year cycle. Some reports have blamed a last-minute redesign and that Honda desires to cut back on its ever-growing length. That is not feasible: Bumper fascias are created early in a new car's improvement, and they're not quickly changed at the very last moment. With all of the major engineering work essentially completed, the extra calendar twelve months of growth may perhaps assist Honda comply with far more strict U.S. crash standards, nonetheless.

In truth, the delay is in all probability additional because of the economy and its impact on the world auto marketplace, and on the philosophical shift at Honda.

The Toyota Corolla continues to be on the six-year product cycle for a couple of generations, and the current car or truck was delayed for the 2009 model yr to give designers time to respond to the 2006 Civic's radical design. Toyota created last-minute layout changes towards the upper body-it didn't change the length. Honda, which continues to be transforming itself from an engineering-based automaker to a marketing-based 1, had already planned to ease the Civic into a six-year cycle, but that wasn't going to come about until after an all-new '11 Civic launched.

The danger is this: While Honda does sell much more Accords inside massive U.S. market, the Civic has always defined the model right here. Delaying the new Civic could potentially leave room for GM and Ford, which both think compacts will replace midsize sedans as the primary vehicle segment here in the U.S., time to sharpen their efforts inside compact field. What's far more, the Civic also faces a great deal of pressure from ever-improving Hyundai Elantras and Kia Fortes.

Bottom line is the delayed '12 Honda Civic had far better be yet another cutting-edge compact in design and engineering, or the brand will have develop into just yet another Toyota wannabe.