The Honda Civic Concept made a surprise debut at the 2015 New York Auto Show last April.
Honda has a lot coming for Civic fans, with a wide range of body and performance variants set to join the sedan version of the 2016 Honda Civic that officials begins rolling into U.S. showrooms on November 12th.
And the next variant on tap, the 2016 Civic Coupe, will make its debut a week from now at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It will be joined on stage by the next-generation fuel-cell vehicle, the Honda Clarity, which got its global send-off at the Tokyo Motor Show barely two weeks ago.
“The second in a line of new 10th-generation Civic models that will be launching over the next 18 months,” the maker boasts that the 2016 Honda Civic Coupe “elevates sporty styling and dynamic performance.”
(Click Here for a review of the 2016 Honda Civic sedan.)
The latest-generation Honda Civic made a surprise appearance in thinly disguised concept form at the New York Auto Show last April – notably in coupe body trim. And that show car offers a good hint of what the production Civic Coupe will look like.
It’s sleeker and sportier than the old two-door, picking up some classic cues from earlier generations. But, where early versions of the Civic put an emphasis on affordability, the targets Honda set for the 10th-generation line-up had the development team benchmarking some of the best luxury products in the compact segment, such as the Audi A3. Among other things, they focused on four key areas to improve:
- Quietness;
- Performance;
- Handling and steering precision; and
- Ride refinement.
The Honda Civic Type R at its Tokyo debut.
For the moment, Honda isn’t even offering the traditional pre-auto show teaser image, but it promises that in comparison to the new Civic sedan, the coupe “will showcase even sportier lines, with an intimate, high-tech interior and engaging powertrain options.”
There’s already a good bit of sportiness in the basic 2016 Civic platform which is a bit longer and wider than the gen-9 model. Significantly, front passengers actually sit slightly lower than in an Audi TT.
What does the Japanese maker have in store following the launch of the 2016 Honda Civic Coupe?
Over the next 18 months, a company statement notes, we also can expect to see “high-performance Si models, a 5-door hatchback and the first-ever Civic Type-R model for the U.S. market, comprising the most diverse and innovative lineup in Civic’s 43-year history.” The Type-R just debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show.
The 2016 Honda Civic Coupe will share the stage at the L.A. Convention Center with the new Honda Clarity. This is the second hydrogen car that the Japanese maker has offered to consumers, following the FCX Clarity it first revealed nearly a decade ago.
The new model uses a smaller, more powerful and more efficient fuel-cell stack, according to Honda, and should get as much as 300 miles range between refills.
Honda showed off its new fuel-cell vehicles, the Clarity, at the Tokyo Motor Show last month.
(Click Here to check out the new Honda Clarity.)
But like the earlier model, the Honda Clarity will only be offered in the U.S. in Southern California, one of the few places in the country where consumers can find a hydrogen pump. Lawmakers in the Golden State have set aside funding to expand that refueling infrastructure and several other states are also laying out plans for hydrogen pumps.
Proponents contend the lightweight gas is the “fuel of the future,” though they get plenty of debate from backers of battery cars.
When the Honda Clarity goes on sale next year it will be the third fuel-cell vehicle available on the retail market, following the launch of the Hyundai Tucson FCV and the new Toyota Mirai.
(Click Here for the dozen biggest debuts at the Tokyo Motor Show.)