HONDA Motor Co Ltd held the world premiere of the all-new Civic Hatchback (pix) recently, where it is scheduled to go on sale later this year.
Honda is planning to make the official announcement on this new model next month.
At the world premiere, which was held online, =the company unveiled the latest Civic Hatchback’s exterior and interior designs and announced advancements made to the car’s dynamic performance.
Honda also announced plans to begin sales of both the new Civic’s hybrid version, equipped with the e:HEV*, Honda’s original two-motor hybrid system and the all-new Civic Type R, in 2022.
Grand concept – ‘Sokai’ (exhilarating) Civic
Honda strived to create a car that is both approachable and has a special presence, making all occupants feel refreshed.
Delving deeply into the “human-centric” approach, which is the basis of Honda’s automobile development, the company advanced the Civic Hatchback based on occupant-centric ideas, such as designs that create an expansive feeling that lightens occupants’ spirits, dynamics which provide a high-quality driving experience and the human-machine interface which can be used intuitively.
Packaging
Pleasing visibility for occupants was realised by featuring a cabin space with an expansive feeling and a wide horizontal viewing angle.
Moreover, by further emphasising the Civic’s conventional “low & wide” body, packaging unique only to the new car was created achieving both high stability and dynamic performance.
Exterior
In addition to the pursuit of a cabin that makes driving easier and gives occupants a more expansive feeling, the exterior design team strived to create a beautiful car with excellent frontal visibility by designing the vehicle with coupe-like and flowing proportions.
For the sharp and sporty frontal look, thin LED headlights and a honeycomb grille were adopted, while the low and wide rear was designed to emphasise the “excellent stance” of the vehicle.
Interior
By creating visually noiseless interior forms, the team strived to realise a cabin space which enables the occupants to enjoy exhilarating and pleasant mobility experiences.
Moreover, the team pursued the tactile quality of switches and the spatial design, which resonate with the users’ sensibilities and created a cabin space that provides a pleasant view for all occupants.
Dynamics
Every detail of vehicle dynamics was further matured in order to offer customers high-quality, sporty and new mobility experiences.
The all-new Civic Hatchback enables the driver to feel a sense of oneness with the vehicle by offering sporty and integrated steering that makes the driver feel as if they are “having a conversation with the surface of the road”.
The vehicle also offers engine sound that feels consistent with the acceleration.
As for the transmission, there is a choice of a continuously variable transmission (CVT) or six-speed manual transmission, enabling customers to experience a further advanced “joy of driving.”
Honda Sensing
The all-new Civic Hatchback features the latest Honda Sensing** suite of advanced safety and driver-assistive technologies equipped with a front wide-view camera and a high-speed image processing chip.
Including the addition of traffic jam assist, Honda Sensing functions were further advanced and enhanced compared to those included for the previous-generation Civic.
Moreover, to assist safer driving, the car’s adaptive driving beam*** provides excellent long-range visibility at night without excessive glaring in the eyes of the drivers of oncoming vehicles, was adopted for the first time for any Honda model.
*e:HEV is a communication name for Honda’s two-motor hybrid system, which is positioned as Honda’s core electrification technology
**There is a limit to the capabilities (e.g. recognition capability and control capability) of individual functions of Honda Sensing. “Do not overestimate the capabilities of each Honda Sensing function and drive safely while paying constant attention to your surroundings.”
***Available only for the EX grade.
