2012 Honda Civic revealed

Honda says that the new Civic has been developed from the ground up, and shares little with its predecessor. The new Civic is based on the Civic Concept cars that were showcased at the Detroit Motor Show earlier this year.

For North America, Honda will offer the Civic in four-door sedan and two-door coupe body styles, both of which get a choice of a standard 1.8-litre petrol engine, a HF high fuel economy variant, Si performance versions, or hybrid or natural gas alternative fuel models.

The Civic HF is powered by a 1.8-litre i-VTEC engine that produces 140bhp, while the new Civic Hybrid gets a 1.5-litre i-VTEC mated to a lithium-ion battery, for a total power output of 110bhp. Both the Civic HF and Civic Hybrid will come with aerodynamic enhancements for improved efficiency, as well as Honda's ECO Assist system.

The standard Civic sedan and coupe models meanwhile, gets the same 1.8-litre 140bhp i-VTEC engine as the Civic HF, but comes without the aerodynamic changes. Honda has not revealed details of the Civic Natural Gas model, but says that it will have a 7 per cent improvement in fuel economy. The flagship of the new Civic range would be the performance Si models, which comes with a 2.4-litre and a new 6-speed manual transmission, delivering 200bhp and 230Nm of torque.

"The Civic is the only model in the industry that can deliver on all fronts - fuel economy, sporty performance, smart packaging, alternative fuel and long-term value," said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for American Honda Motor Co. Inc. "For the ninth-generation Civic, we are emphasizing improved fuel economy across the board, from the hybrid sedan to the sporty Si model."