The Honda Civic Tourer will be unveiled to the public in September at the Frankfurt auto show.
Honda will unveil a more practical version of its Civic hatchback for Europe and elsewhere next month, but neither the new wagon nor the regular hatchback will be coming to Canada, a Honda Canada official confirmed this week.
There is also no plan to offer the 1.6-litre Earth Dreams diesel engine in Canada, wrote Honda Canada communications director Maki Inoue, despite the Chevrolet Cruze recently joining the compact Volkswagen Golf and Jetta sedans in offering a more fuel-efficient oil-burner in North America.
The Honda Civic is the best-selling car in Canada over the first six months of 2013, barely nudging ahead of the Hyundai Elantra that does offer a hatchback and two-door variants, as do other top sellers such as the Mazda3 and Ford Focus.
The longer Civic Tourer stylishly adds extra cargo capacity to the five-door Civic hatchback, the latter of which looks more like a sportier three-door given its hidden rear door handles, camouflaged subtly into the rear roof pillar. The Civic Tourer offers 624 litres of covered cargo space below the window line, compared to the Civic sedan's 353-litre max. Fold down the Tourer's rear seats and it can hold 1,668 litres worth of gear, thanks to a gas tank moved to under the front seats, and the use of trick-folding seats similar to the Fit.
The Civic Tourer was designed for the European market, and will be built in Honda's U.K. plant in Swindon. It will publicly debut at the Frankfurt auto show in September, Honda has confirmed, and go on sale in Europe in early 2014.
Speaking of the Civic, spy shots posted online recently of a high performance version of the Civic testing at the Nürburgring suggest that Honda is also working on a Civic Type-R successor, with reports suggesting that a 300 hp turbocharged engine may take the Civic to new performance heights. Unfortunately, though there has been no official word from Honda Canada, the European five-door body style also suggests that it will be yet another version of the Civic not destined for these shores.
Infiniti Q30 Concept suggests Lexus CT rival coming
Infiniti's new Q-heavy naming strategy for model year 2014 may be confusing, but at least it helps folks discern where this Q30 Concept will fall in the marketplace: as an entry-luxury hatchback, similar to the Lexus CT200h.
However, unlike the CT200h, there are no indications that the hatchback Infiniti will be a hybrid-only model, or alternatively powered at all, at least judging from the information revealed so far about the concept.
The one released design sketch suggests that Infiniti will introduce a dramatic two-box design that is more adventurous than the Infiniti LE small sedan concept released last year at the New York auto show. That concept was based on a Nissan Leaf-derived drivetrain, but there's no word as to what will power the Q30 when it comes to market, nor when.
However, Infiniti notes that this will be the first production vehicle developed since inception "under the influence" of three-time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel, the brand's publicly designated 26-year-old director of performance.
GM unveils free lube-oil-filter program on 2014 vehicles
GM Canada will offer two years worth of free oil changes on all Chevrolet, GMC and Buick models starting with 2014 models, the company announced recently.
The offer includes up to two free oil, lube and filter changes per year for the first two years of any bought or leased non-Cadillac vehicle, or four in total before 40,000 kilometres.
GM's luxury Cadillac brand offers a no-charge scheduled maintenance program for four years, or up to 80,000 kilometres, similar to other luxury auto makers. Other more mainstream brands are starting to offer free scheduled service plans and visits as well, including Mini and Scion.
Villeneuve, Pagani Huayra to highlight Vancouver concours
The exotic and rare $1.3-million Pagani Huayra will make its Canadian debut at the Luxury and Supercar weekend in Vancouver early next month, the fourth edition of the glitzy outdoor concours, which is quickly becoming Canada's answer to the pricey Pebble Beach and Amelia Island concours events in the United States.
The champagne and designer dresses will flow as the society event, at the lush Vandusen Botanical Garden, will feature tributes to the 50th anniversary of Lamborghini and the Porsche 911.
Former Formula One and Indy 500 champion Jacques Villeneuve – the only Canadian yet to achieve either of those titles – will be there, with show organizers hinting that he'll make a special announcement days before the show's Sept. 7 start. Former Real Housewives of Vancouver star and exotic car collector Reiko Mackenzie will be a judge at the event, and will present a specially modified 'Reiko' edition of the Ferrari 458 featured on the show, complete with every carbon-fibre bit available from Ferrari, and perhaps others.
Other high-end exotics set to grace the grass of the gardens include the 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster, Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse, Lamborghini Aventador Inizio (LP700) project, the super rare Maserati MC-12 Corsa, and the new Porsche Panamera plug-in hybrid.
Tickets are $50 per person, or $100 for VIP tickets that include lunch and drinks, but out-of-town attendees can receive two complimentary tickets by staying at designated downtown hotel partners, as listed on the event's site at LuxurySupercar.com.