In remarks at the NAIAS in Detroit, Honda President and CEO Takeo Fukui outlined the enhancements to the upcoming 8^th-generation Civics to be released this fall (model year 2006).

• The new gasoline ICE Civic will use Honda’s latest i-VTEC engine for higher fuel economy and lower emissions.
• Honda will introduce the Civic Diesel in Europe with Honda’s own clean-diesel engine already used in the Accord (earlier post). Currently, the Civic Diesel uses an Isuzu engine.
• Enhancements to the Civic’s IMA hybrid system will deliver “significantly” higher fuel economy and performance.

Honda will also bring its natural gas version of the Civic to market, making it the only automaker to offer the same model with four different powerplants.

Honda also will apply its Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) system to the 2006 Honda Pilot sport-utility vehicle scheduled to debut this  fall. VCM deactivates three of the engine’s six cylinders during cruising, deceleration and other low engine load conditions to reduce fuel consumption.   This technology was first introduced in the U.S. in 2004 on the all-new 2005 Odyssey minivan (earlier post) and 2005 Accord Hybrid (earlier post).

More details as they come through the year.