Exclusive: New Honda Civic Spotted in India

The Honda Civic is under consideration for a re-launch in the country —  this time, if it gets a green signal, the Civic will be getting a diesel heart along with heavy localisation!  

Reports suggesting that Honda India had imported a left-hand drive Civic in India for R&D (Research and Development) were buzzing around last year. But we have the very first exclusive spy shots of the Civic from Honda India’s second manufacturing facility in Tapukara, Rajasthan. Honda has not confirmed about the re-launch of the new Civic and neither did they showcase it at the last year’s India Auto Expo. Speaking of its launch, it is not coming anytime soon, even if the company confirms it for the Indian market - expect its launch to happen in a couple of years. 

The Civic rests in the segment which is lately suffering from dwindling sales and its major competitors are the Toyota Corolla Altis, the Hyundai Elantra, the Skoda Octavia, the VW Jetta, the Renault Fluence and the Chevy Cruze. Out of all, it is the Corolla Altis, which leads the sales chart with close to 1000 units monthly — that's a huge number considering the segment and its rival's sales. 

The Civic was discontinued from India as its sales dipped due to lack of a diesel offering compared to its competitors. If Honda plans to re-launch it, the new Civic will be getting a 1.6-liter i-DTEC diesel engine in the country and we expect the motor to be class-leading in terms of performance (120PS and 300Nm of torque) and fuel efficiency.

PS: The spied vehicle is a 5-door hatch version of the 9th gen Honda Civic, we’ll be getting the sedan version or the next-gen model. This hatch is here probably for the diesel testing — but isn’t it a looker?