The New 2006 Honda Civic Proves Its Worth

• New Civic is a depreciation buster - it’s official.

Hot on the heels of its low insurance announcement, Civic has been given another boost with exceptional residual values forecast by Glass’s Guide.

According to latest figures, over 3 years/60,000 miles, Honda’s Civic 2.2 ES beats BMW and VW comparatives comfortably and is only £12 behind the Audi A3.

Depreciation remains the key factor in cost of ownership, and with a residual value of 43% (see chart), new Civic owners could save nearly £1000 over those driving the BMW1. It’s even better news for the SE which gets 44%.

Honda has big plans for Civic in the fleet market and is hoping to attract one in 10 user choosers. This means the Civic has to do battle with the premium German brands and the fact that Glass’s has given the Civic such strong residual values shows they believe it can do the job.

Glass’s is not alone in its forecasting; Lex Vehicle Leasing, arguably the largest leasing company in the UK, has also declared its faith in Civic with the same residual values for both specifications.

“We’ve been extremely impressed with Honda’s product strategy and believe the Civic will be a strong contender. We’d expect new Civic to outperform VW Golf in the used market, placing it comfortably in the premium end of the C-Segment,” explains Steve Jones, Lex’s Pricing Manager.

New Civic goes on sale in January 2006.