When the new '06 Civic debuts this fall, expect it to recapture some
of the love lost among the tuner crowd with the appearance of
the '01 model. "We do care a lot (about pleasing the enthusiast
crowd)," says Tom Elliot, executive vice president, American Honda
Motor Co. Inc. "Honda's always had a very good presence among young
buyers. We lost a little of that with the '01 Civic, mainly (on) the
coupe side, which came across perhaps as a little bland." Elliot
believes the new Civic, which he calls "very different," will remedy
any styling misfire of the current-generation model that turned off
younger buyers who like to customize the popular small car. "The new
coupe, we think, is going to address that issue in many ways, the
styling in particular," he says. "I think we'll have a product that
will appeal to the young buyer and to the aftermarket as well."

Elliot also says Honda needs to create more variants of the Civic
and the Accord, it's two highest-volume products in the United
States, to keep demand for the models high. Each currently offers a
sedan and coupe. Honda saw a dip last year in U.S. Accord sales,
which Elliot blames on a typical ebb and flow of the coupe segment.
The automaker does not break out Accord coupe sales from sedan
numbers. "We're looking at (whether) we need another variation of
each of those products to give us the same kind of volume we enjoy
now," says Elliot, noting the drop off in passenger-car sales.

"(Civic and Accord) are very important products to us, not just from
a sales viewpoint, but a manufacturing viewpoint (to keep) our
factories working on a 100% basis." Elliot says variants such as
hatchbacks and station wagons would be "easy things to do," but
adds, "there may be new ideas as well, so we're exploring what our
options are and which ones might be best for us going forward."
Elliot says a sedan and coupe remain the only two variants on tap
for the '06 Civic.

Source: http://www.wardsauto.com/