Honda has unveiled the 11th generation Civic headed for the North American market. For this all-new Civic, Honda has adopted a “Man-Maximum, Machine-Minimum” design philosophy that puts a focus on functionality and simplicity. And in that sense, it’s a huge departure from the last-gen Civic. Let’s take a closer look at what the 2022 Honda Civic is all about.

The new Civic has a more mature design with fewer creases and cuts, though Honda has still retained the low and wide stance that’s come to be a hallmark of the Civic’s design. The new Civic is also longer than the outgoing model. The face looks cleaner with slimmer, rectangular headlamps and a revised grille. The front bumper with its wide central air dam adds some boldness to the face.

Down the flanks, notable elements include a prominent shoulder line running along the length of the car and a more distinct three-box sedan design as compared to its predecessor’s four-door coupe-like look. The wing mirrors, too, have been relocated and now sit further back on the door, as against at the base of the A-pillar on the 10th-gen model.

Rounding out the looks at the rear is an integrated spoiler on the boot lid, along with wraparound tail lamps with LED elements mirroring the DRLs in the headlamps. Overall, the new Honda Civic sports a striking resemblance with the Accord.

On the inside, Honda debuts its new ‘Simplicity and Something’ interior design philosophy with the new Civic. The low-set dashboard features a rather clean and uncluttered look with a unique honeycomb pattern strip – which also hides the air-con vents – separating the upper and lower section. The AC vents hidden behind the honeycomb mesh on the dashboard are a really nice design touch. The 9.0-inch floating infotainment screen is the largest for any Honda vehicle and it also gets a fully digital instrument cluster in top-spec trims.

Powering the 2022 Civic is a choice of two. There is a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol and a 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbo-petrol. Both units come with a CVT gearbox as standard. The 2.0-liter petrol develops 160 hp and 187 Nm of torque – identical to the unit in the 10th-gen US-spec Civic. The 1.5-liter turbo-petrol, meanwhile, puts out a stronger 182 hp and 240 Nm.

The 2022 Civic has an upgraded Honda Sensing safety suite that has a single camera and eight sonar sensors. The tech now includes traffic jam assist, low-speed braking control, and front and rear false-start prevention. The improvements include more natural braking from the adaptive cruise control and more linear steering from the lane-keeping assist.