United Kingdom, October 13, 2005 – Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd (HUM) reached a major milestone as mass production of the 8th generation Civic, a unique 5 door hatchback for Europe began at its EUR 2 billion production operation in Swindon, Wiltshire.  Volume production begins just seven months after the concept version was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, underlining the company's long term commitment to building cars in the UK.

The new car is scheduled to go on sale in January 2006 and, with other new models in the Civic range to be launched over the next 12 months, is expected to boost European sales of the Civic series by as much as 50% up to 120,000 sales within the next two years.

Underlining the maturity of Honda’s UK car and engine manufacturing operations, the start of volume production of this new Civic at Swindon will be the first time that the plant has progressed a new model to mass production in the UK without the car being produced in a Japanese parent plant, a testament to the engineering skills of Honda's 4,000 Associates at the site.

Mr Shigeru Takagi, President of Honda Motor Europe, commented, “Our goal has been to create a car that revolutionizes the market, a product that makes other cars look outdated. We have made no compromises in the development of this vehicle and in every way the all new Civic represents a dynamic shift towards the premium end.”

“The British-built Civic has a key role to play in our model line-up as we expect to be selling 120,000 Civics in 2007; a 50 per cent increase on current sales. For Honda’s European operation, this is the most important launch in its history.”

A second engineering ”first” is the company’s production start-up of diesel engines on the same line as it currently produces petrol engines – seen as unique in the British car industry.

Honda in Swindon started building cars in 1992. Today it will produce the 1.5 millionth car, clearly demonstrating its long term confidence in UK manufacturing and Swindon, in particular, as a center of excellence.

The new UK-built Civic hatchback will feature Honda’s acclaimed, high-performance 2.2 i-CDTi diesel engine, an all-new and highly efficient 1.8 liter i-VTEC petrol engine and a 1.4 i-DSI petrol engine.