Civic Hatch set for NZ release

Honda New Zealand has announced the new five-door Civic Hatch will be released in June 2017. The launch date announcement follows news yesterday that the Hatch model (excluding the Type R) received a five-star ANCAP safety rating. Nadine Bell, general manager of marketing for Honda NZ, says that with the “Honda Civic sedan success, achieving over 41 per cent of the private segment share since launch, we are looking forward to adding the Hatch body style in June". The tenth-generation Civic Hatch has two powertrain options – a 1.5-litre VTEC engine, which generates 129kW of power and 219Nm of torque, and a 1.8-litre i-VTEC engine. Both are equipped with CVT transmission. Various safety features are included throughout the range. Dual frontal, side chest and side head-protecting airbags (curtains) come standard, and autonomous emergency braking, blind spot monitoring and lane support systems are available on some variants. The RS Sport Turbo variant contains a Type-R styled central-mount twin exhaust system and a full lower body kit.  Pre-orders are open now at registered dealers, with the car to officially go on sale in June, with pricing specifications to come.