Tweet This
- spy photos show a 2016 Civic that’s clearly bigger than ever, its enlarged footprint likely to create speculation as to how much longer Honda will be able to call the Civic a “compact” car.
- spy photos show a 2016 Civic that’s clearly bigger than ever, its enlarged footprint likely to create speculation as to how much longer Honda will be able to call the Civic a “compact” car.
Honda went to great lengths to arrange an unveiling of the 2016 Civic in a special YouTube event next week. But a specialist photographer who prowls for such prey - or just a sharp-eyed passerby - spotted the new Civic parked on a street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Quick as a wink, the photos ended up on Civic-enthusiast website CivicX.com – spoiling Honda’s Sept. 16 Web reveal.
The spy photos show a 2016 Civic that’s clearly bigger than ever, its enlarged footprint likely to create speculation as to how much longer Honda will be able to call the Civic a “compact” car. The styling appears to be a fusion of certain traits from the current Civic and Honda's upscale Acura line, as well as hints of larger cars such as Nissan's Maxima at the rear haunches. The Civic in the photos looks to have LED headlights, a feature of upscale cars that is trickling down to lower-priced segments. Here it indicates the photographed Civic probably is a top-trim Touring model.
The car caught by the spy photographer is a four-door sedan, but its steeply-sloped rear window is evidence of one of the most important aspects of the all-new, tenth-generation of Civic: Honda is reviving the hatchback body configuration as an option for the 2016 model. Such a large rear glass normally wouldn’t be needed if the new Civic was coming only in conventional sedan and coupe body styles.
The 2016 Honda Civic sedan, as caught by a clued-in photographer before Honda can officially reveal... [+]
Although any new Civic is big news, Honda’s on the wrong side of current market trends: new-car buyers increasingly are rejecting conventional “cars” in favor of crossover vehicles and pickup trucks. As a result, even sales for the Civic – perennially one of the country’s most popular cars and selling at a pace of more than 300,000 annually in recent years – are down 4% this year.
Even when Honda showed a "concept" version of the 2016 Civic last spring, it appeared the radically... [+]
The rear view shows the taillights that have become a standing Civic styling trait. (Photo credit:... [+]
Honda hasn’t specified when the all-new Civic will be in showrooms, or said whether there will be a efficiency-maximized hybrid version. But the 2016 models will feature Honda’s first-ever use of turbocharged engines in the Civic and Honda is boasting, “The completely overhauled 2016 Civic receives the most ambitious remake in its 43-year history.”
