It's been a long time coming but the oft-delayed new Honda Civic will appear in near production form at the Detroit auto show in January. But for now Honda has only released a single concept sketch and even sketchier details about the next generation of Canada's long-time sales champ.

The production Civic will go on sale in the spring of 2011 as a 2012 model, while a Civic Concept will be shown in Detroit that shows the "styling direction" of the new model, Honda confirmed this week.

*****

Peter Cheney's three trips from hell: The proposal, a date with death row and the Maine mission

*****

The best-selling car in Canada for the past 10 years, the new Civic was supposed to debut this fall as a 2011 model. However, the plan changed half way through its redesign when it went back for a major re-engineering in 2008 amidst the credit crisis and record fuel prices then hitting North America.

The 2012 Civic will go on sale six years after the current generation debuted, a year beyond the five-year cycles of the last two generations of Honda's popular compact, and considerably longer than the routine four-year cycles of the '80s and '90s, though some would argue that some of those redesigns were far from all-new models. The upcoming ninth-generation model will also likely be the first Civic not to grow larger than the previous version, with various Honda executives admitting to deep concern in Japan that the Civic needs to become smaller, lighter and even more fuel-efficient, while increasing perceived space inside.

Toyota and Honda accounted for half of the 12 ecoEnergy award winners for 2011 announced last week as part of the Natural Resource Canada department's annual recognition of the most fuel-efficient vehicles sold in each segment.

Both Toyota and Honda were awarded three ecoEnergy (formerly Energuide) awards each, while Ford and the VW/Audi group each had two. The most fuel-efficient vehicle in the country is once again the Toyota Prius, the mid-size gas-electric hybrid hatchback that consumes less overall fuel in a year than smaller hybrids like the new Honda CR-Z two-seater and Civic Hybrid, the second-most fuel-efficient ecoEnergy award winner.

There were many new additions to the list, suggesting that auto makers see a value in bringing ever-more fuel-efficient products to market, even though sales figures suggest that fuel efficiency is far from the most important purchase consideration. These new additions included the CR-Z bumping out the Smart fortwo in the two-seater class, the Ford Fiesta displacing the Toyota Yaris as the most fuel-efficient subcompact, and the Honda Accord joining the redesigned Hyundai Sonata in a tie for most fuel-efficient full-sizer, an award that the previous-generation Sonata won for 2010.

On the truck side, there were also some new award winners, but it wasn't a case of lower fuel-efficiency numbers achieved by new models or advanced engine technology, but more because older but more fuel-efficient trucks went off the market, either temporarily or permanently. So, because there are no 2011 Ford Ranger and Mazda B2300 pickups, the four-cylinder Tacoma was the next most fuel-efficient pickup, though still thirstier than the outgoing but ancient compact twins.

It's a similar story for the Toyota Sienna, the ecoEnergy minivan award winner, which inherited the crown from the long-time dominator of this class, the Mazda5 micro-van. Mazda appears to have skipped over the 2011 model year while preparing for the launch of the all-new 2012 Mazda5 early in January, and thus its fuel-efficiency numbers were likely not available in time for the 2011 awards - even though it will be on sale in 2011. The 2.7-litre four-cylinder in the Sienna is remarkably fuel-efficient for a large van, but certainly not to the same degree as the smaller and lighter Mazda5.

Other ecoEnergy winners included the Ford Escape Hybrid (special purpose vehicle), the Chevrolet Express Cargo/GMC Savana Cargo (large van), and a tie in the station wagon class between two Volkswagen/Audi diesel products, the Audi A3 TDI and VW Golf Wagon TDI, all of which were repeat winners.

We waved goodbye to the Pontiac Wave last year - and now it's time to bid adieu to its Chevy Aveo twin, which will be replaced by the shapelier Chevrolet Sonic next year.

More than just a name change, the redesigned compact 2012 Sonic will be based on the Aveo RS shown at the Paris Motor Show in October, which will grow in size to allow room for the subcompact Spark hatchback to slot in underneath it as a 2013 model the following year. The Aveo name will live on everywhere outside of North America. It will be built in GM's Orion, Mich., assembly plant just outside Detroit, a major feat for such an inexpensive car in what traditionally has been a high-cost labour market.

The current Daewoo-designed subcompact Aveo is not aging well, with its shape, interior and fuel economy falling further and further back from the market leaders in this entry-level class.

The Nissan Leaf electric vehicle was delivered to its first customer in the world on Saturday, mere days before GM no-so-coincidentally touted that the first Chevrolet Volts had been shipped from the plant on Monday for delivery to its first customers this week.

Olivier Chalouhi, of San Francisco, was the first person in North America to place an online order for the Leaf in the summer, and he was the first customer to receive one in what Nissan called a historic day in the history of the modern automobile. Nissan's battery-electric hatchback is scheduled to go on sale in Canada in the fall, but a similar online ordering process will also be set up in the spring.

Nissan Canada also announced a deal to sell 500 Leafs to a fleet program organized by the Toronto Atmospheric Fund. Dubbed the TAF's FleetWise EV300 program, it aims to pool the buying power of several major fleet operators, including the City of Toronto.

"A big part of what FleetWise EV300 is about is getting electric vehicles on the road in the GTA so that we can assess both performance and what needs to be done to create a more supportive infrastructure," said Julia Langer, executive director for TAF.

From big-ticket items to good stocking stuffers, these tools and gadgets are sure to please