Honda takes a "revolutionary evolutionary" approach to the European version of its new Civic subcompact.

Product planners are always struggling to decide whether to stick with a successful design when it comes time for an update or whether to go with something more radical.  With the all-new Honda Civic going into production for the European market, the Japanese maker has apparently decided to strike a balance between cautious and outrageous.

Or so said the maker’s global CEO Takanobu Ito, during a Frankfurt Motor Show preview, where he described the 2012 Civic remake as “a revolutionary evolutionary” design that leaps “two generations ahead of our current model.

It remains to be seen if critics and customers agree, though the initial reaction to the European version of the Honda Civic is decidedly more positive than the reception the maker received for the American Civic subcompact, launched earlier this year.

Honda's European design team took a very different approach compared to the U.S. Civic.

Honda definitely hasn’t had an easy time of it lately. Never mind the March disaster in Japan that cost it 100s of thousands of units of lost production.  The maker has also been taking some body blows from journalists criticizing the recently updated U.S. Civic –along with a head shot from influential Consumer Reports magazine, which rated the 2012 model near the bottom of the subcompact pack.

But if Honda was trying to play it safe with a conservative look for the U.S. model, the new European version of the Civic has clearly gone with a more distinctive, even funky, shape that is less likely to get lost in the crowded Continental market.

According to the Japanese maker, “Sources of inspiration included a ‘blended wing body’ aeroplane in which the fuselage and wings blend into a single body for superior aerodynamic performance.”

The interior of the European Civic appears decidedly more refined than the American model.

There are some carry-over design elements, such as the split-glass rear hatch and hidden rear door handles.  But the European Civic did not fall back on a safe rehash of the model it replaces.  It will be offered in a 5-door hatchback trim.

Honda claims it has put a premium on trimming the weight of the new model in order to reduce emissions, improve mileage and deliver a better ride and handling experience.

Honda CEO Ito noted that the new car’s update 1.8-liter gas engine should deliver about a 10% bump in fuel economy, its 2.2-liter diesel a 20% gain.  But he also suggested that a new, smaller diesel specifically developed for Europe should come on the market by the end of 2012.