The ninth generation Honda Civic will feature a cleaner, more powerful and economical 2.2-litre diesel engine which will emit 110g/km of CO2 while still producing 148bhp.

This new lower CO2 figure signals a drop of 29g/km over the outgoing model and will enable customers to benefit from free road tax for the first year and £20 per year from then on.

A five g/km reduction in CO2 was achieved with the addition of Idle Stop (start/stop) technology.

Katsushi Watanabe, Honda development leader for the engine, said: “To achieve a good CO2 figure, you need to optimise every aspect of the car.

“Reducing the emissions was our key target and we’re proud to say that we have achieved this without compromising the high performance character of the engine. We want our customers to have fun when they drive this car.”

 

The production version of the new Civic will be revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The new model is due to go on sale in the UK next year.

Honda has released the first of five promotional videos to promote the new engineering developments on the new Civic.