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Originally announced June 2006 and a groundbreaking ceremony on March 19, 2007, the new Greensburg, Indiana plant finally began shipments on Oct 29, 2008 when Eugenia Olson drove the first Honda Civic off the assembly line at 7:50 a.m.

The $550 million plant ultimately will produce 200,000 vehicles annually and employ 2,000 workers; the vehicle they are producing is a Honda Civic Sedan featuring a 140-hp, 1.8-liter, 16-valve SOHC i-VTEC® 4-cylinder gasoline engine produced at a Honda engine plant in nearby Anna, Ohio.

“The rise of Honda’s mammoth new car plant in America’s farming heartland is a stark contrast to the layoffs and plant closings announced in recent months by General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler LLC Chrysler LLC” noted The Japan Times.

In addition to the 4 cylinder gasoline engine model civic, Honda plans to shift production of its CNG natural gas version the Civic “GX” from its current factory in East Liberty, Ohio which has been producing about 2000 units per year.

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Honda’s most environmentally friendly model, the GX Civic uses no gasoline and produces near zero emmissions according to Honda and it has been named “America’s Greenest Car” by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Honda is also promoting the Civic GX as a vehicle that doesn’t require imported oil – surely to resonate with Americans today!

Honda Dedicates Indiana Auto Plant (carsofjapan.blogspot.com)
Honda Begins Mass Production of Civic Sedans in Indiana (carsofjapan.blogspot.com)
Honda Closes Plant For Two Months (news.sky.com)
Honda Hires as Big Three Crash (abcnews.go.com)

Image by geognerd via Flickr

While sales of the Honda Civic Hybrid Sedan hasn’t taken off like the Toyota Prius, oddly enough the 2009 Civic Hybrid provides similar gas mileage for a lower price!

In general, reviews are saying that in comparison to the Prius, the Civic Hybrid (with it’s 90-hp, 1.3 litre engine and 20-hp electric engine) isn’t as ‘slick’ but it is good enough to drive – that isn’t meant to ‘damn with faint praise’, rather, put things into context; there is nothing wrong, it just isn’t ‘standout’ good.

Some highlights: Incredible interior room, good steering, breaks and handling

New in 2009: front bumper and grille styling, head and tailight assemblies, USB interface, Bluetooth, GPS, stability control.

A nice gallery of pictures is below

Honda has rolled out their new line of Civics for 2009 and include a nice upgrade to the Civic Coupe along with the Civic Sedan and Civic Hybrid (will post some news and shots of those later).

According to the honda website, styling changes include: new 17-inch alloys, bolder grille, clear turn-signal lenses, rear wing spoiler, Exhaust tips, and updated headlight and tailight sets.

Here are some cool shots of the new 2009 Honda Civic Si Coupe:

: 2009 Civic Si – Back view

: 2009 Honda Civic Si – Front Quarter View

: 2009 Honda Civic Si – Front View

: 2009 Honda Civic Si – New 17″ Alloys

: 2009 Honda Civic Si – Rear right quarter view

: 2009 Honda Civic Si – Left side view

On the performance front the 2009 Honda Civic Si Coupe is available with the 197-hp, 2.0-Liter, DOHC i-VTEC^® 4-Cylinder Engine (the K20Z3 engine), a helical limited-slip differential, a close-ratio 6-Speed Manual Transmission, MacPherson Strut Front/Multi-Link Rear Suspension and Honda’s trademarked Drive-by-Wire™ Throttle System.

To top it all off, the 2009 Civic Si delivers pretty decent gas mileage for essentially a performance vehicle getting 21 city/29 highway/24 combined mpg.

An excellent first look at the 2009 Honda Fit - while, the full details haven’t been released by honda yet, but a bunch of features are known including:

Optional satellite navigation system with voice recognition (first time) in its subcompact
iPod integration is standard on the Fit Sport.
Electronic stability control is optional for 2009
Safety features include: advanced airbags, anti-lock brakes, and electronic brake force distribution
Engine options include a 1.3 liter i-VTEC, 100 horse-power model with a class leading fuel economy-4.2 liters per 100 kilometers.
The sportier 1.5 liter i-VTEC with 120 horsepower still manages a respectable fuel economy of 5.1 liters per 100 km
Transmission choices include a true manual and an automatic with optional steering-mounted paddle shifters. Both the automatic and manual transmissions feature five forward gears.
Rim size has been increased to 15-inches for the Fit and 16-inches for the Fit Sport.

It is no Civic but, for the cost and environment conscious, the soon to be released 2009 Honda Fit looks like a nice choice! I am sure it won’t be long at all before there is a myriad of high performance honda accessories available either!

This is an incredible Car! Mugen will produce only 300 of these vehicles, and if you are one of the lucky ones to order one (and pay the almost $40,000USD price tag, you can have it in any colour you want…..as long as it is Milan Red!

For the ultimate in high-performance honda civic tuning kits, civic accessories and body parts you have to at least consider Mugen and this video shows why! we will try to follow up with more about this car, because it is pretty far out!

Honda Civic Blog

New Honda Plant in Greensburg Indiana to add Civic GX to roster

2009 Honda Civic Hybrid Sedan

2009 Honda Civic Si Coupe – Images

2009 Honda Fit – initial look

Honda Civic Mugen RR – Awesome Video

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