New Honda Civic launching in India: New diesel engine, automatic braking and lots more!

Earlier this year, Honda had announced that they would bring back the Honda Civic to India, among three other cars that they had planned to launch in the coming financial year.  The new Honda CR-V is set to be launched on Indian shores in October, followed by the tenth iteration of the Honda Civic. In comparison to the outgoing car (not the one that was last on sale in India), the changes on the new Civic have been kept as subtle as possible. The tenth generation Honda Civic gets a grille with the front “wing’ finished in a gloss piano black rather than the thick dollop of chrome that Honda had on the Civic that was unveiled at the 2018 Auto Expo. Tying together the changes on the new Civic are brand new alloy wheels and our sources suggest that Honda will possibly add a 'Sport’ trim for the Civic as well. With 18-inch alloy wheels, a splitter style rear bumper, rear spoiler and some black accenting on the front, the Civic Sport will look sportier but isn't expected to feature any performance upgrades.

On the inside, the new Honda Civic facelifts get a newer edition of Honda’s Digipad, that will be controlled through a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which gets Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. That aside, there are no changes expected on the new Honda Civic’s interiors. Honda’s focus on safety continues on the Civic with a whole host of safety features being included on the package as standard. The rather long list includes collision warning and mitigation system with automatic braking, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control among others but given the cost pressures, we don't expect all these features to make way into the India-spec model.

We expect that for Indian Markets, Honda will give continue with the 1.8-litre petrol motor on the Civic with 140 hp on tap. We also expect a diesel variant in the form of the 1.6-litre Earth Dreams diesel engine, making 120hp and 300Nm. This is the same diesel engine that is expected to be launched with the Honda CR-V in October. While the CR-V with its heavier weight could be slightly underpowered with this engine, the Civic should do fine with its lighter weight. In our opinion, Honda could launch the Civic facelift in the early half of next year ahead of the financial year closing in March. Once launched, the Civic could be priced between Rs 18-22 lakh, taking on the likes of the Skoda Octavia, Hyundai Elantra and the Toyota Corolla Altis.