Honda has sold nowhere near as many Civic hatchbacks as they would have liked, in Europe, where the lack of a small-capacity diesel engine, and the slightly awkward styling never made it a prime candidate in the class, even though, by all accounts, it’s not a bad car at all.
Thankfully, Honda seem to have been paying attention, as they’ve now addressed the engine problem, and have slightly solved the styling quibbles with their much more stylish new Civic Tourer estate/wagon model, which was shown at the Frankfurt motor show in production form, after having been previewed by a not too dissimilar concept.
The car’s chief engineer, Adrian Killham, was on hand at the event to do a quick video, outlining what they’ve tried to achieve with the model, and how much of it they’ve succeeded in doing. What impressed us was the size and shape of the boot, which they say is the largest in the class at 624 liters.
With this model, it seems that this shape Civic may have a fighting chance in Europe after all, and we’re curious as to what the first reviews will be saying bout the new Tourer, when it hits the market in early 2014.
By Andrei Nedelea
VIDEO