Learning About The Honda Civic

The Honda Civic is the line of compact and subcompact cars that made a name for Honda as an industry leading car manufacturer. Before the Civic, Honda was known in the United Stated and abroad as primarily a manufacturer of motorcycles. In 1973, with the launch of the Civic, Honda became known as one of the best car brands in the world.

The earliest models of the Civic were subcompact cars that had a reputation for surprising roominess, excellent gas mileage and good speed for a small engine. During times of fuel shortages, when everyone was coming out with smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, honda civic 2012 promoted the Civic by touting its passenger space, claiming the Civic to be among the roomiest of subcompact cars.

Initially, Honda offered two Civic models - the Civic Hatchback and the Civic Sedan. Similar in their practical designs and basic look, there was little about these earliest models that would suggest the Civic would soon become one of the most popular cars in the world.

Having undergone a series of generation changes, the Civic soon became a larger and more upscale car, offering features and amenities not available on earlier models. Designed primarily with practicality in mind, the early models of the Civic had quite a basic list of features including heater, two-speed wipers, AM radio, and padded plastic trim. Over the years, the list of features grew to include more upscale amenities as power windows, leather upholstery, power locks, air conditioning, a six-speed manual transmission and today even includes the latest technology like satellite-linked navigation. Having first gained a reputation for fuel-efficiency and reliability, the latest versions of Civic, like the Civic Type-R, Civic Gti and the Civic SiR, have become recognized for their performance and sportiness.

The dynamic design changes started in the 1980's and saw Civic radically transformed from a subcompact economy car to an attractive automobile capturing the attention of even upper echelon car buyers. Now with a sleeker, more 'space-age' design, the 8th generation Civic and beyond were not built with just practicality and reliability in mind. See honda civic hybrid

As the sleeker designs hit the roads, the Honda Civic's popularity continued to grow as the older models, built for reliability, sold in huge numbers as used cars. As of 2006, Honda reported sales of the Civic reaching into the tens of millions worldwide with over seven million sold in the United States alone. As of 2012 in Canada, it was reported that the Civic had been Canada's best selling car for the last 14 years. The Honda Civic is a car in high demand to this day.