It wasn't until 1972 that Honda finally established a foothold in the important American market with the introduction of their Civic model. Larger than its previous models, but still small compared to the typical American car, the Civic turned out to be the right car at the right time when in 1973 the energy crisis started to impact worldwide economies.

New emissions laws in the US required motor manufacturers to add expensive conversions to their vehicles such as catalytic converters. Honda, however, introduced an innovative variation called the Compound Vortex-Controlled Combustion (CVCC) system which allowed the Civic to meet emission standards without the use of a catalytic converter. Since then the company has continued to provide innovative solutions and leading edge designs establishing itself as one of the leading Japanese car and motorcycle manufacturers in the world.

Today Honda produces cars in plants established all over the world including its highly productive centre in Swindon, Wiltshire where the popular Civic is manufactured for the World market. Innovation is a key word here, the factory being the only manufacturing facility in Britain that can build both petrol and diesel engines on the same production line, helping Honda respond to demand quickly and flexibly.

To give an idea of where the cars are destined for, 27 per cent will be sold in the UK, 33 per cent go to the USA, just over 39 per cent to mainland Europe and the remaining fraction of a per cent represent Type-R models that are exported to Japan.