HONDA UNVEILED CIVIC CONCEPT AT THE GENEVA AUTO SALON

Geneva, March 1, 2005 --- Honda today unveiled the “Civic Concept” – a five-door hatchback design exclusively developed for the European market – at the Geneva Auto Salon. The Civic Concept will be on display at the show until the 13th of March.

The styling of the Civic Concept on display in Geneva is very close to the mass production model that will be introduced in early 2006 in Europe. It was designed to appeal to our customers’ emotions, with a wider and lower body that achieves a distinct sporty style that is unique to Honda.

The all-new Civic will offer class-leading performance with excellent environment and safety technologies. It will feature the award-winning 2.2 i-CTDi diesel engine, as well as a state-of-the-art petrol engine line-up. In the area of safety, every model in the all-new Civic line-up for Europe is planned to be equipped with the most advanced features in its class, including Vehicle Stability Assist system and side curtain air bags.

At the press conference held at the Geneva Auto Salon, Takeo Fukui, President and CEO of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. said that “the all-new Civic will shift toward the premium end of the class, while providing a true fun-to-drive spirit.” He went on to mention that the company expects the Civic “to set a new benchmark in the C-segment based on the quality and performance.”

The Civic series will continue to be produced in the company’s European automobile plant in the UK. Further, with this new Civic, assembly of diesel engines will be introduced to the UK plant.

The final production model of the all-new Civic is planned to debut at the Frankfurt motorshow in September 2005.