17^th November, 2000

Civic wins Car of the Year in Japan

The new Honda Civic has won the 2000-2001 Japan Car of the Year award.

It is the fourth win for the Civic in the award, which is chosen by a panel of 54 leading Japanese motoring journalists and industry commentators.

The Civic range – comprising the Civic Sedan, Civic Hatch and the Civic-based Stream small people mover – scored 475 points, well ahead of its nearest rival, the new Lexus LS430 (325 points).

Civic scored almost three times as many points as the third-placed Subaru Impreza (166 points), while another new Honda, the Odyssey, made the top 10 in the award, finishing seventh on 42 points.

The selection committee said the Civic featured engines that achieved both excellent power performance and environmental friendliness while achieving world-class safety standards.

Honda President and CEO Hiroyuki Yoshino said Honda was honoured the Civic had earned the prestigious award.

He said the Civic was developed to offer cleaner, environmentally friendly performance, together with advanced safety, to set a new benchmark for compact cars in the 21^st century.

"We accept this award both as recognition of our development concept and new technologies and as appreciation for the great efforts of Honda suppliers and business affiliates who suuport our efforts," he said.