APRIL: 2012 Honda Civic

When it debuts this spring, the all-new Civic will feature a lot of variants, from a natural-gas model for all 50 states to a hybrid, and both sedan and coupe bodies. While Honda isn't yet talking displacement or horsepower, the company is promising that base models with gas motors will reach 40 mpg on the highway and that there will be hotter, Si versions in both the coupe and sedan body styles. Also nice: While the Civic has grown larger in recent years, Honda trimmed some fat out of this redesign, so it may be a little tighter handling, and a little more in keeping with Hondas of yore—cars that were always both frugal and entertaining. Present Civic pricing is between $15,000 and $25,000, and we expect Honda to maintain that cost range.

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