Just as Honda announced it’ll be refreshing the Civic for next year, hoping everyone will quickly forget about the 2012 model, Consumer Reports goes and gives the 2012 Honda Civic Si a “Recommended” rating in its latest report.

Now let’s keep in mind that Consumer Reports were one of the first outlets to give the 2012 Civic such low ratings. In fact, they reiterated their thoughts on the base model Civic by saying “while other models like the Hyundai Elantra have gotten better after being redesigned, the Honda Civic has dropped so much that now it ranks near the bottom of its category.”

But the base model Civic isn’t the one that sports the 2.4L, 201-hp powerplant. In fact, our review of the Si was favorable – read the review here – and Consumer Reports agrees that the Si offers “terrific acceleration” more low-end torque and a slick-shifting six-speed manual gearbox. As a result, the Si model scored much better than the base model awarding it the Recommended title from Consumer Reports.

Funny enough, the publication still believes that while “the Civic Si has a great powertrain, it needs a better car wrapped around it.”

GALLERY: 2012 Honda Civic Si

Click here to read AutoGuide’s 2012 Civic Si vs. MazdaSpeed3 Shootout

In a completely unprecedented and unexpected move, Honda has announced to its dealers to expect a new Civic by the end of next year. That’s right, the all-new 2012 Honda Civic that just came out is already getting a makeover.

Honda is clearly doing damage control by saying that the revamp is coming early in order to stay ahead of the competition. But there’s little doubt it’s coming because the all-new Civic was so disappointing. In fact, many believe that it was a step backwards from the previous generation’s offerings and that Honda really missed the mark on their iconic model.

At least Honda is being proactive in recognizing that a change needs to be made, hopefully it’s for the better.

As for what we can expect, Honda recently previewed a new lineup of engine and transmission technologies, including a new direct-injection 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine. In addition, Honda has produced a new CVT transmission for use in compact cars and so its possible that will replace the current 5-speed automatic unit. These changes come as a part of Honda’s new Earth Dreams Technology plan where it aims to deliver vehicles that are not only fuel economy leaders, but performance leaders. too.

GALLERY: 2012 Honda Civic Sedan

[Source: Wheels.ca]

It hasn’t been a particularly good year for Honda, especially where it concerns its bread and butter Civic. Introduced just prior to the March 11 Tsunami and earthquake that hit Japan, supply shortages crippled production, leaving dealers starved of their best selling model in many cases.

To make matters worse, the 2012 model, in the process of redesign when the global economy tanked in 2008, received a number of cost cutting measures, such as reducing feature content and using cheaper materials, particularly inside the car, including the dash and console.

Although Honda is now ramping Civic production back up again, including adding a second shift at it’s Greensburg, Indiana plant, it’s also taken to heart some of the criticism leveled at the new car. As a result, originally planned mid-cycle updates are scheduled to take place sooner, rather than later.

According to John Mendel, executive vice president at American Honda Motor Co. said updates will happen next year instead of 2013.

“We take feedback seriously, regardless of who it’s from, and we will act accordingly quickly,” he said in a recent interview, though he also stated that he doesn’t know how much Honda can do to improve the car’s image, nor how quickly.

Civic was still the most shopped nameplate in the US in June, though demand since has fallen faster than many analysts predicted, with much of that believed to have come from a downgrading by Consumer Reports, which dropped the Civic from it’s “Recommended” list for the first time in memory.

[Source: Automotive News]

Click here to read AutoGuide’s 2012 Honda Civic Review

With the 2011 SEMA Show just around the corner, we’ve been getting fed tons of teasers and sneak peeks of finished projects that will be making their way to the big aftermarket expo in Las Vegas. But forget teasers, here’s the full reveal of Fox Marketing’s 2012 Honda Civic Si, boasting a wickedly clean widebody and packing over 450-hp thanks to Full-Race’s turbo kit.

The custom widebody and body kit is courtesy of carbodykits.com, while Fox Marketing opted to have the entire body resprayed by BASF’s R-M Ultrasonic Blue Pearl. Handling suspension duties are springs from Road Magnet while SSBC contributed a brake upgrade to the Si Coupe. For wheels, Fox Marketing opted for a custom 20-inch setup from Vossen. CV3 wheels adorn each corner of the project wrapped with Toyo Proxes 4 tires.

On the inside, Yonaka Ronin racing seats found their way inside after being reupholstered with factory Civic Si fabric inserts in the front and the rear. AutoGuide.com will be sure to check out the finished project up close in person starting on November 1st.

GALLERY: Fox Marketing 2012 Honda Civic Si

See AutoGuide’s complete 2011 SEMA Show preview here

Discuss this story at 9thGenCivic.com

One of the complains that has been leveled against the new 2012 Honda Civic is that it isn’t very dramatically designed. In fact, we said as much in our review of the Civic Si, commenting that this “boy racer” needs an injection of testosterone.

This may just happen, and far sooner than anyone could have predicted, with rumors that the 2013 model year car will get a styling update well-ahead of the usual mid-cycle refresh. According to one source a “very refreshed, and more aggressively styled Civic,” is set to hit the market in December of 2012 as a 2013 model year car. The news comes from a “grassroots” meeting between West Coast Honda dealers and corporate big wigs, where the dealers expressed their concerns with the new car’s styling and were reassured with the above comments from corporate.

With Honda having just launched the new Civic, the 2013 model year car is said to arrive late in the year, perhaps as far away as December of next year, giving Honda as much time as possible to revamp the car to help it compete better against popular new models like the Cruze, Focus and Elantra.

GALLERY: 2012 Civic Si

[Source: TOV]

Read AutoGuide’s 2012 Honda Civic review here, and 2012 Civic Si review here

Being the savvy multinational corporation Honda is, it has to take its knocks with some tact. And with its reputation marred by Consumer Reports’ dragging of the 2012 Honda Civic through the muck, it’s no surprise that Honda has issued a statement claiming that they “fundamentally disagree” with the magazine’s review.

Both Honda and Consumer Reports, of course, have valuable reputations in the minds of consumers. And so, “they are definitely finding fault with someone they have shown a lot of love in the past,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for Honda North America.

Mendel picks apart the CR review and finds that “Consumer Reports’ own testing found that Civic’s smooth and efficient powertrain returned “…an impressive 30 mpg overall on regular fuel and 47 mpg on the highway. Only one other compact car the magazine tested did better.” In addition, “as noted in Consumer Reports findings, the Civic excels with a long list of important safety features that are standard on all trim levels.”

Rival publication Motor Trend, “which knows a thing or two about ride and handling,” picked Civic 2nd among eight compact cars in a recent comparison test. This, Mendel says, is proof that the Civic is still a player in the already-competitive small car market. “However, we disagree with Motor Trend as well—we think there is no better compact car than Civic.” Hey now, don’t get greedy!

Lastly, Mendel notes that CR only reviewed one model of the Civic, the LX sedan, while there are six different models across three trim levels. While this could be construed as a fair point, we doubt that some of the Civic’s greater shortcomings could be drastically improved with the ticking of an options box.

Click here to read AutoGuide’s 2012 Honda Civic review or hit the jump to watch the video:

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Honda has taken a beating from critics over its new 2012 Civic model, but the buying public could just as easily shrug off the elitists views of a few buff books were the level-headed and notoriously impartial heads at Consumer Reports to anoint the Japanese compact car with a Recommended rating. But they didn’t.

In the latest issue of Consumer Reports, the Civic is tested alongside the new Focus and the Kia Forte, both of which earn a “Very Good” rating. The Civic, however, scored too low to rank on the Recommended list. Dropped 17 points from the previous generation car, the new model gets just 61 points, dropping from “Very Good” to “Mediocre”. In fact, the only compact car to score worse was the unanimously panned Volkswagen Jetta.

The reason for the low score, according to CR, include a lower interior quality, a choppy ride, long braking distances and “pronounced road noise.” It’s not all bad, they insist, listing positives like decent rear seat room and a 30-mpg average rating in their test (the second best).

“While other models like the Hyundai Elantra have gotten better after being redesigned, the Civic has dropped so much that now it ranks near the bottom of its category,” said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center in East Haddam, CT.

Click here to read AutoGuide’s 2012 Honda Civic review

As perhaps a sign of an improving situation from its suppliers, Honda has announced it will be stepping up production of the Civic at its Greensburg, Indiana assembly plant by adding a second shift.

Since the plant opened in 2008, Honda has always planned to have two shifts running, however, a combination of  supply issues from the natural disaster in Japan, along with having to re-tool for the 2012 model have meant that it’s only been possible to keep one shift running, as a result; availability of Civics so far this year has been at half the normal level, much to the chagrin of Honda’s dealers and customers.

Nevertheless, a spokesman for Honda, Ed Miller, said that the company has been working hard on fixing its supply problems and as a result is now able to commit to a second shift at the Civic plant.

So far this year, sales of small cars are up by 20 percent over 2010, spurred in part by higher fuel prices. Honda’s overall sales are up by 17 percent, as is demand for the Civic, so the news probably could not have come at a better time.

Honda previously stated that it expected full production capacity for all model lines (bar the Civic) to be achieved by August.

GALLERY: 2012 Honda Civic

[Source: Automotive News]

Discuss this story at 9thGenCivic.com

Click here to Read AutoGuide’s 2012 Honda Civic Review

Click here to Read AutoGuide’s 2012 Honda Civic Si Review

In light of post-earthquake supply disruptions, Honda Civics may be a bit scarce where you are, but in Canada where the Civic has been the number-one selling car for 13 years straight, they now come in giant cereal boxes – or so a Vancouver ad agency would have you believe.

Honda is already marketing the car to a younger audience with fantastical themes, but this takes it to a new level, and may become a trend in trying to get peoples’ attention in an age where many think we’ve seen just about everything.

A similarly larger-than-life ad was a facade for a recent tall Hot Wheels ad on a real highway made to look like a car could do a quick loop along its way.

[Source: Adweek]

See video after the jump.

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Every time a new version of a car is introduced sales are expected to spike. That, however, is not the case with the all-new 2012 Honda Civic with American Honda Motor Co. sales boss John Mendel warning dealers in a memo that supply will be “severely restricted, with limited availability of certain models.”

Due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the document sent to dealers states that production of the new car will, “be at significantly reduced levels at least during the summer months.” As a result, some industry experts are predicting that instead of the usual spike for a new model, Civic sales could drop below the 2010 figure of 260,000 units.

“With an all-new and improved model, Honda of course targeted to sell more,” says Christina Ra, Manager Honda Public Relations. Unwilling to speculate on exactly how much the restricted supply could damage sales of the Civic, Ra did admit that, “Obviously, if a customer really needs to make a purchase, wants the Civic and can’t get it… there are choices that must be made on the customer’s part.”

While serious problem for any car in any year, this could hamper momentum on the new Civic and hurt its long term success in an increasingly competitive market. Hyundai’s new Elantra is off to a strong start and while Honda used to be able to count on a lack of competition from domestic automakers, both Ford’s new Focus and the new Chevy Cruze are both credible threats in the marketplace.

With supply limited due to production, and not demand, the imbalance between dealer inventories and customer buying habits could cause prices to rise. Ra was unwilling to comment on how dealers will react to the admitted imbalance between supply and demand, instead commenting that as independent entities they would be left to govern themselves.

No indication was given on if availability of particular Civic models could be more affected by the shortage.

The good news, says Ra, is that, “there is a tangible end in sight,” with Honda’s goal of normalizing production by the end of the year.

Click here to read AutoGuide’s 2012 Honda Civic Review

Discuss this and more at 9thGenCivic.com