Honda Civic Tourer shown ahead of Frankfurt motor show reveal

Honda has shown its new Civic Tourer just ahead of its reveal at the Frankfurt motor show in September. Designed by Honda's European design studios, the Civic Tourer is expected to go on sale in Europe in early 2014.

The Civic Tourer will be available with either the Earth Dreams 1.6 i-DTEC diesel engine or the 1.8 i-VTEC gas engine when arrives, along with a manual or automatic transmission. But it's the 22 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats in their upright positions, and 59 cubic feet with the rear seats stowed that Honda is perhaps most proud of. Storage space will be plentiful on the inside for goods large and small, with a number of hidden storage compartments beneath the floor.

The basic idea behind the car is that of taking a familiar compact sedan or hatch and offering just a bit more passenger and cargo capacity. While the Ford Focus C-Max has made its way to America, vehicles like the Volkswagen Golf Plus have stayed on the other side of the Atlantic. An MPV version of the Audi A3 is also reported to be in the works, and may be previewed at the Frankfurt show as well.

Honda
The European-market Civic sits on a different platform than the North American model, so unfortunately we won't be getting this car.

"To achieve true utility on a compact car, you have to consider how to make the most of the space in the cabin, which generally also affects the design," said Adrian Killham, large-project leader at Honda, responsible for the Civic Tourer. "Due to the clever platform of the Civic, we had freedom to optimize the package. The end result is a car that has almost a sports-car silhouette.”

There are no plans to offer this model in the U.S., as it is based on a European version of the Civic which uses a different platform. Honda has been keeping the Civic lineup in the U.S. fairly limited, declining to offer even the Civic five-door hatchback. We can't help but think the five-door hatch and this Tourer would make just as much sense in the U.S. market as in Europe, given the popularity of other spacious compacts and the Civic nameplate itself.

By Jay Ramey