In a brutal car market, the Honda Civic remains one of the few bright spots: A small, affordable, fuel-efficient car that doesn't make you feel like you're riding around in a glorified tin can. Enjoying a banner year after having briefly become the best-selling car in the country in May, the 2009 Civic looks to keep up its momentum. Cars.com reviewer Mike Hanley explains why it is likely to do so, but how a few minor irritants might also trip up buyers.
The fuel economy results of our mileage drive are in, and by now you’ve already read which cars we tested, the mileage they achieved and our impressions of each compact car. It’s using those real-world results that we’ve calculated which of these frugal commuters offers the best fuel economy value, based on each car’s as-tested price compared to the mileage it returned.
The calculation was simple: To pinpoint a value based on fuel economy, we merely divided the MSRP by how many miles per gallon the car returned during our testing. Now, let us mention that you can always get a bare-bones, stripped version of car, improving its fuel economy value, but the following results are a reflection of the specific trim levels we tested, which mostly included niceties that made the drive easier.
This week, we reported the results of our latest mileage challenge, a 300-mile highway trip in four high-mileage commuter cars. Our convoy averaged a respectable 33.8 mpg. The Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic achieved the highest numbers, with the Pontiac G5 and Ford Focus coming in a few ticks worse. Three editors and an editor in chief logged considerable time in each, and we cobbled together some impressions and off-the-cuff rankings for the group.
Read on for our thoughts.
Gas prices are dropping — precious good news in otherwise dismal economic times — but automakers clearly think we’re still in for a long-haul increase. To wit: The MPG war remains afoot, and the higher the gas mileage numbers you can put up, the better. General Motors markets XFE trims, for Extra Fuel Economy, of certain cars and trucks that have been tweaked to get better mileage. Ford has the makings of a similar lineup in its SFE, or Superior Fuel Economy, badging. Even Hyundai and Kia tout drivetrain revisions that yield incremental upticks in several of their ’09 models.
The ratings are sometimes impressive, especially among commuter cars, so for this fall’s mileage challenge we put four of them to the test. GM’s Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac G5 twins now get an estimated 25/37 mpg city/highway in high-efficiency XFE trim, which only comes with a manual transmission. The redesigned Toyota Corolla gets a close 27/35 mpg city/highway rating with an automatic; that’s a slight increase over the prior-gen automatic. A number of other contenders post impressive highway figures, too.
Balk all you want about how your kid brother’s ’87 Tercel got 35 mpg going uphill, but we’ll remind you that today’s commuters can reach 60 mph in less than 10 seconds – with side curtain airbags and habitable backseats to boot.
A few months back we produced an in-depth series about the future of auto manufacturing in Indiana, including a stop in Greensburg, where Honda was yet to open its new assembly plant. Today, the company announced that the first Honda Civic sedan has rolled off the new line.
The Civic has been in high demand since this summer’s gas-price roller coaster, and Honda simply couldn’t increase supply enough with just imports. The new flexible plant in Greensburg will boost Honda’s North American production by more than 200,000 vehicles a year, the company says.
Honda’s assembly plant in East Liberty, Ohio, also produces Civics, but the hybrid version of the car is still manufactured in Japan.
Brace yourself: There’s a new Honda Civic going on sale today. OK, it’s not all-new. In fact most of the changes are so subtle the average buyer won’t even notice. However, there are some substantial changes to the Civic lineup as a whole that add some new value choices and tech features. The 2009 Civic sedan and 2009 Civic Hybrid went on sale nationwide today, with the coupe hitting dealer lots later this month and the high-performance 2009 Civic Si going on sale next month.
On the design front, all Civics get a new front bumper and grille that look slightly different from the current ones. That’s about all that’s different cosmetically. The engine choices all stay the same, too, with only the top-of-the-line EX, EX-L and Hybrid getting stability control standard along with the Si. That’s a feature we’d like to see make its way to the more affordable members of the lineup.
Speaking of more affordable, there are two new trim levels for the sedan. The DX-VP — standing for value package — will cost the same as the DX — $15,405 for the manual and $16,205 for the automatic — but come with A/C and an audio system. Prices exclude a $670 destination charge. Those prices are higher than the 2008 models’ by $395. More information on the 2009 Civic is below.
Sales numbers for June are rolling in, and the list of the top 10 sellers in the country has once again shifted. Last month the Honda Civic took the top spot away from the Ford F-150, and now the Toyota Corolla has taken the No. 1 mantle. Before Toyota can claim the spot, though, we must tell readers that Toyota includes Matrix sales along with that Corolla number because they’re built on the same platform.
We don’t agree with that form of accounting, but Toyota’s Camry came in second, so even without the added Matrix sales it still would have come out on top. The Civic slid to third.
Overall sales were down for Ford, GM, Chrysler and Toyota — yes, Toyota — as people start pinching pennies. Many other automakers saw upticks — most significantly Honda, but Kia, Hyundai and Subaru also saw numbers go up. Hyundai sold more than 50,000 vehicles in a month for the first time ever last month, with the Accent, Sonata and Elantra seeing big increases.
Below is the new top 10.
We spent a good chunk of yesterday calling car dealers nationwide trying to find a new Toyota Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid to buy. We logged quite a few phone calls — as interested buyers, mind you — and not one dealer had an actual vehicle on the lot. We recently ran our list of the fastest cars moving in and out of lots, and both ranked quite high, with the Prius and Civic Hybrid selling in 11 and 20 days, respectively.
According to more than one salesman, however, they sell “before they get off the truck.” So, how do you get one of these hot sellers?
Either get on a waiting list or buy used.
May sales numbers are in, and the Honda Civic has not only overtaken the Toyota Camry as the best-selling car in the country, it has also surpassed the Ford F-Series as the best-selling vehicle of any kind in the nation.
This radical change in top-selling vehicles has a lot to do with consumer sentiment and high gas prices. Even so, the Civic — up 28.3% over May 2007 — still topped other economical models like the Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus. Of the 53,299 Civics sold in May, 4,676 were hybrids. Honda also does not sell to fleets, unlike Toyota, Ford and Chevy. Some fleet sales can total between 5% and 30% or more, depending on the model, and are included in monthly sales figures.
Yes, even the Toyota Corolla is sold to fleets. Hertz even offers a rental of the Corolla as a green “upgrade,” charging more for it than larger cars because of its fuel savings. Toyota also includes Matrix sales in its Corolla total despite it being sold and marketed separately from the Corolla name. Both models were redesigned earlier this year.
When asked earlier today about the possibility of Honda achieving the No. 1 mark, Honda spokesman Chuck Schifsky played down the importance. “Our concentration is providing efficient cars that people want,” he said. “Who we pass along the way … we’re not hanging on that too much.”
For the list of the top 10 best-selling vehicles in the U.S. in May, click below. Note that these are only results posted so far today, but there are few mass-volume models whose sales figures have not yet been released.
Ah, the power of peaceful protest.
Honda and Acura owners recently saw their hard work pay off when Honda issued a technical service bulletin for the vehicle. The issue? Owners of certain vehicles claimed the car had a transmission problem involving the third gear randomly popping into neutral and grinding incessantly.
Previously, Honda claimed to know nothing of the problem and refused to issue a recall. A TSB is short of a recall, but owners can still get the problem fixed free of charge by bringing their vehicle into a dealership. You can see the TSB for the Honda Civic and Accord here, and the TSB for the Acura here. For a full list of models affected, go to the jump.
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