By Leftlane Staff
Monday, Oct 24th, 2005 @ 12:25 am

Honda has high hopes for its redesigned Civic. Civic and midsize Accord models account for almost half of Honda’s U.S. sales, but demand for both dropped in 2005. “We need to re-energize the Civic; it’s one of our crown jewels,â€? said Mendel, a former Ford and Mazda marketing executive. “We want to get a new generation to rediscover Honda as a brand of choice.” Honda considers the Civic to be a gateway to future purchases as young buyers get older. “It has been the car that introduces people to Honda and keeps them in the family” as they move into Accords and Pilot sport utility vehicles and finally upscale Acura models, said Jesse Toprak, senior analyst at auto market information provider Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, Calif.

0 Comment