Honda, the first Japanese automaker to open a plant in the U.S., continues to solidify its position as a key part of the American manufacturing landscape: The company recently announced that its facility in Greensburg, Ind., has built its 100,000th Honda Civic.
Of course, that’s not that much of a surprise when you consider how big a hit the Civic has been for Honda. The compact sold 259,722 units in 2009, making it the sixth-best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for that year, and the Civic is off to a very positive start in 2010. Honda moved 14,693 Civics last month, up 12.1 percent compared to January of 2009, and there’s plenty of reason to expect the car’s full-year sales will get a healthy bump from Toyota Corolla defectors.
A key to the Civic’s success is its bold styling, which makes the car look as fresh today as it did when it launched in 2005, although a facelift in 2009 also helped a bit. The look is especially eye-catching on the Civic coupe, where it offers a modern-day take on the long-hood/short-rear proportions of classic sports cars. And when that sheet metal is wrapped around the Civic Si, owners get performance that matches the car’s appearance.
Just as importantly for today’s drivers, the Civic is also a big performer at the gas pumps, too. Both the coupe and the sedan are rated at 26 mpg city/34 highway/29 combined in the EPA testing when equipped with a five-speed manual transmission, while the models go 25/36/29 with Honda’s five-speed automatic. Even the much sportier Si can earns good EPA ratings of 21/29/24. Ultimately, its the Civic balance of styling, comfort, and efficiency that continues to help the automaker win awards.
The Greensburg plant also is the only facility in America building a car that runs on compressed natural gas. That’s the Civic CNG, which gets the equivalent of 24 mpg city/36 highway/28 combined according to the EPA. Now that’s good “gas” mileage.
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