New Civic and Legend sedans to lead diesel Accord from Honda

HONDA has confirmed it will commence testing a turbo-diesel version of its Accord Euro medium-sized car for the Australian market.

"We’ve commenced significant market research on diesels in this country and we’re in the process of bringing in an Accord Euro diesel from the UK to test it in our local conditions – and to see how it goes in consumer reactions to our diesels," Honda Australia director, Lindsay Smalley, told GoAuto at last month’s Australian International Motor Show in Sydney.

"It’s certainly on our agenda."This 2.2-litre four-cylinder common-rail turbo-diesel produces 103kW of power and 340Nm of torque, and can enable the car to deliver a claimed 5.4 litres per 100km.

Acceleration figures indicate that the car can hit 100km/h from standstill in 9.3 seconds on the way to a 210km/h top speed.

In other Honda news, the launch of the next-generation Honda Legend in Australia has been delayed until at least mid-2006 following unexpectedly strong demand overseas.

The prestige sedan was originally scheduled for a late 2005 or early 2006 launch.

"It’s selling exceptionally well in Japan and the US," a Honda spokesman said. "And there are some minor styling changes that are occurring on it for the European market, so we’ve decided to hold back and take those styling changes onboard."As a result of the delay, the next major launch for Honda will be the new-generation Civic, which is due early next year and will be sold in four-door sedan guise only.

According to Honda Australia, the decision not to import the radical-looking hatchback model was due to costs involved with importing it from its sole production facility, Swindon in England.

Thailand, which currently produces the Civic hybrid (and Accord sedan) for Australian consumption, will become the sole source of the Civic.

However, future next-generation model variants – which should include an as-yet unseen three-door hatchback as well as a two-door coupe – have not been ruled out for Australian consumption.

"It’s very early in the model line-up for this particular car," Mr Smalley said. "We’re not excluding anything in the future but we’re certainly launching with the sedan only."Now in its eighth iteration, the 2006 Civic five-door hatch is easily the most boldly styled in the nameplate’s 33-year run.

Honda Australia says hatchback fans can still rely on the smaller and less-powerful Jazz light car to fill the void left by the current Civic Vi five-door hatchback, released in Australia in late 2000.