Honda had announced earlier this year at the Auto Expo that it'd be launching three new cars in India in FY19: the second-gen Amaze is already here, the new CR-V is set to be introduced in October, and following that will be the tenth-generation Civic. The Civic facelift has just been revealed, and we can confirm this is the car India will get.
The changes to the 2019 Civic's exterior are subtle. As standard, there's now a front ‘wing’ finished in piano black instead of the chrome bar we saw on the pre-facelift Civic displayed at the Auto Expo, a reworked, more angular front bumper with chrome accents for the fog lamp housings and a chrome strip for the rear bumper. Rounding off the list of cosmetic updates are new designs for the alloy wheels. There’s also now a ‘Sport’ trim on offer internationally, with 18-inch wheels, a splitter-style rear bumper, rear spoiler and added black detailing for the fascia.
Inside, the Civic facelift gets Honda's updated seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. This aside, there are expected to be no changes to the Civic's interior.
Also standard on the Civic facelift is Honda's Sensing suite of safety features, which includes a collision warning and mitigation system with automatic braking, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control and more.
For India, Honda is expected to introduce the Civic facelift with a 1.8-litre, 140hp petrol engine, along with the 1.6-litre Earth Dreams diesel engine, making 120hp and 300Nm – the same engine that’ll also be powering the CR-V. Additionally, Honda could also pair the diesel with a nine-speed automatic, just like the CR-V.
Launch of the Civic facelift is slated to take place in the first half of 2019, and it is expected to be priced between Rs 16-20 lakh, where it’ll go on to rival the likes of the Skoda Octavia, Toyota Corolla Altis and Hyundai Elantra.