Official patent images of the 11th-generation Honda Civic have surfaced online, ahead of the hatchback’s expected reveal some time in 2021. When it arrives, the new model will provide renewed competition for the latest Skoda Octavia and the Mk8 Volkswagen Golf.
These images were first posted by the CivicXI.com forum – and they show that the new Civic will grow in both length and width over the outgoing model, as Honda tries to fill the void left by the now-defunct Accord saloon.
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Honda also seems to have reined-in its designers for the Mk11 Civic; this new model’s lines are far less aggressive than the outgoing car’s. The headlights are less sharply creased, the radiator grille is narrower and softer, and the old Civic’s unusual liftback and glass tailgate spoiler have been swapped for a more conventional unit.
Our spy photographers have snapped the Mk11 Civic out in the wild – but only in Type R trim. But while that model will likely be fitted with a tuned version of the outgoing car’s turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, the standard Civic range is expected to make a shift towards electrification.
Honda has previously said that it will electrify its mainstream European line-up by 2022, although the brand has yet to confirm how the new Civic will meet that goal. A potential option is for Honda to use a modified version of the Jazz’s innovative e:HEV powertrain – something which the brand has hinted at in previous briefings.
Tom Gardner, Senior Vice President, Honda Motor Europe, said, “This shift to electrification will change the face of our model line-up considerably. Our two-motor [e:HEV] hybrid technology will be spread across the model range and we will bring further battery electric products to the market.”
Production of the next-generation Honda Civic will also move, from the car’s current home at Swindon to one of Honda’s factories in Japan. Honda is due to close its Swindon production facility in 2021; that’s a whole year before the Mk11 model will reach Europe, although the firm is likely to stockpile examples to maintain stock levels for the majority of that period.
What do you make of the new Honda Civic? Let us know in the comments section below…
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