The ninth generation of Honda's Civic has gone on sale in Ireland at a starting price of €21,395.
The car is available with 1.4 and 1.8 petrol engines and a 150hp 2.2 diesel. In manual form the petrols are B rated for Irish road tax, and the diesel is rated A. A 1.6 diesel with 120hp will arrive in 2013, but the €24,445 pricing of the 2.2 in the meantime is priced at the 1.6 equivalents in competitors from VW, Ford, Toyota and Opel.
Ireland is the first market in Europe to get the new Civic, as the car's arrival was seriously delayed because of production problems due to the tsunami in Japan and the subsequent floods in Thailand.
Honda Ireland expects that the sales split between petrol and diesel will be 50/50, a departure from the 30/70 ratio that currently happens in this market.
