A peek through the European patent office files revealed images of Honda’s freshly launched in North America, 2012 Civic in both four-door sedan and two-door coupe guise. Given that the European market will get its own, bespoke version of the Civic, chances are that Honda simply wanted to cover its back like most of the competition just in case another automaker (we are looking towards you China) got any crazy ideas.
However, it is possible that Honda will offer the four-door saloon model in certain European countries to compete against the Volkswagen Jetta. With the exception of one version of the Civic sedan seen in this set of images and which features slightly modified taillights with additional strips that extend towards the license plate holder, there are no other differences compared to the North American Civic.
The European version of Honda’s compact model will make its world premiere at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September. It will be available in five-door and three-door body styles, while the Japanese automaker has also confirmed the development of a smaller displacement turbo diesel engine that will fit right under the current 2.2-liter i-DTEC unit.
