Honda headquarters in Japan has released official images of its Civic hatchback, more than six months out from the car’s arrival in New Zealand.
The company let go the limited line-up of exterior pictures after unofficial images of an undisguised Civic hatch appeared online last week.
They show that the production version is pretty much identical to the concept unveiled at the Geneva motor show earlier this year, except from detailing here and there.
Differences between the hatch and sedan – apart from the obvious – is the design of the three-quarter rear window, and the exhaust pipes in the centre of the rear. The position of the exhausts alone hint at the Civic Type R to come.
The hatchback is built on the same platform as the sedan, both are more closely related than ever, and both are vitally important to Honda. “This new Civic for us is a significant milestone,” said Honda NZ managing director, Nobuya Sonoda.
“It is the most important model in the history of Honda and we’re confident the customers who have been looking for the original sporty DNA that Honda was founded on, are going to find it in this new Civic.”
It is not known if the hatchback range will mimic the sedan line-up of four models, but it will use the same engines. The entry-level Civic S sedan gets a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre delivering 104kW/174Nm; the Civic Turbo, Civic RS Turbo, and Civic NT Turbo sedans get a turbocharged version of the same engine generating 127kW/220Nm in the.
The sedan is priced between $29,900 and $42,900 and, again, it is not known if the prices of the hatchback will be similar, or if one body style will attract a premium over the other. The Civic Type R hatch will obviously be the hero car when it arrives in NZ later in 2017.
The hatchback will get the same passive and active safety aids as the sedan, along with infotainment that includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.