The Honda Civic should be here by August 2006. That’s eight months more for prospective D-segment customers and could well be eight months too less for the likes of the Toyota Corolla and the Skoda Octavia.

The eighth-generation Civic — it started life in 1972 as a three-door hatchback and has since sold around 16 million units — will be made in China, India and Vietnam. Like the City, the Civic too follows Honda’s new ‘one-motion’ principle (read cab-forward, minimal front and rear overhangs) and has a sporty stance. The headlamps slant up to either side of the grille and the rear has a cut-off tail, with the rear combination lights arranged in a ring-shaped pattern.

We think this Civic is a lot more lively to look at than the American model. Power for the Civic will come from an 1800cc i-VTEC motor that puts out a healthy 140bhp, but keeping our fuel in mind, we expect the output to be around the 130bhp mark. A five-speed auto tranny could be bunged in as an option for the car.

If the exteriors look interesting, Honda has really upped the game inside the car, whose long wheelbase holds a promise of roominess. According to Honda, the Civic has split rear seats and the trunk capacity is a commodious 438 litres. The carmaker had earlier marked June '06 as a launch date, but things could go off schedule by a couple of months due to delay in the localisation of certain high-tech components.