Honda's next-gen Civic: Here's what the new hatchback will look like

Cape Town - The 10th-generation Honda Civic sedan  has arrived in South Africa. Wheels24 experienced Honda's new  flagship in Cape Town earlier in August.

One question remains for fans of the Civic - when will the hatchback arrive in SA?

What about the hatchback? Well, the Civic hatch is undergoing testing for global markets though as of August is headed for the US. Honda has yet to confirm when its new hatchback will reach SA, so for now the Civic will only be available in sedan guise. Until the 1.8-litre arrives later in 2016, the 1.5 turbo will be the only engine choice (available for Executive and Sport derivatives). 

Setting sail

The hatchback variant of the new Civic has set sail for the US. Due to arrive in dealers in US by September 2016, the US-bound Civic is made by Honda’s UK manufacturing base in Swindon.

It was announced in 2016, last year’s announcement that Honda of the UK manufacturing (HUM) is to become the global production hub for the tenth-generation Civic hatchback, and received an investment of over £200-million to prepare for the start of production of this new model.

'Biggest selling nameplate'

Civic is Honda’s biggest selling nameplate worldwide and this tenth generation is one of the most comprehensive new model developments ever undertaken by the brand. The four-door sedan version was launched in US in late 2015 - and in South Africa in August 2016 - and received the coveted North American Car of the Year award.

READ: Driven - New Honda Civic has big shoes to fill in SA

Philip Webb, head of cars at Honda UK, commented: “Production of the hatchback for the UK market will commence towards the end of 2016, with sales beginning in the first quarter of 2017. Our factory in Swindon will also export the model to other key markets around Europe and the rest of the world.”

Honda of the UK Manufacturing (HUM) is Honda’s flagship production facility in Europe and a key part of Honda’s global manufacturing network. Since 1989, Honda’s total investment in HUM has exceeded £2.2 billion.