HONDA has released the first images of the all-new Civic five-door, the 11th generation of the brand’s class-leading hatchback.

Civic remains a core model for Honda in Europe and the latest generation builds on almost 50 years of heritage, delivering the usability, comfort and visual appeal that the model is renowned for.

The all-new Civic will be offered exclusively as a hybrid, becoming the latest model to feature the brand’s advanced e:HEV (hybrid electric vehicle) powertrain, and meeting the objective for all European mainstream models to feature electrified powertrains by 2022.

Already powering the recently-launched Jazz and Jazz Crosstar, the 2020 CR-V as well as the all-new HR-V on sale later this year, the widely acclaimed hybrid powertrain will offer new Civic owners the perfect blend of fun-to-drive performance and efficiency.

Since its launch in 1972, the Civic has been well received by customers across the world, selling more than 27 million units across 170 countries. The all-new Civic e:HEV is set to continue this success and will be arriving in Europe from Autumn 2022.

UK cars getting older

VEHICLE numbers on UK roads fell to 40,350,714 in 2020, according to Motorparc data released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the first time the total number has fallen since the global financial crisis of 2009.

As the pandemic stifled new vehicle uptake, the average age of cars on UK roads is now the highest on record at 8.4 years.

Van uptake, however, has grown to the highest level in history, accounting for 11.4 per cent of all vehicles on the road.

Light commercial vehicles (LCVs) – the only vehicle type to see an increase – saw 1.7 per cent growth over the past year, up to a new record high of 4,604,861 vehicles. Many of these have been instrumental in supporting the nation during the pandemic, providing support to the NHS, and delivering food and goods across Britain.

Production hit by shortages

IN A continuation of the recent trend, UK car production rose dramatically in May, according to figures released by the SMMT but still faces ongoing Covid-related issues.

Some 54,962 cars rolled off production lines compared to just 5,314 a year ago, when coronavirus halted manufacturing. Performance, however, is still far below pre-pandemic levels, down -52.6 per cent on the same month in 2019.

So far this year UK factories have turned out 429,826 cars, up some 105,063 units on last year, the majority (95.3 percent) of the additional volume built for export, but overall output remains down -22.9 percent on the same five-month period in 2019. This is reflective of the scale of the challenge facing the industry as it seeks to recover from the pandemic while grappling with global parts supply shortages.