Honda Civic

Honda Civic will be familiar to fans of the old one, as Honda takes a leaf out of Volkswagen’s design handbook and goes for evolution rather than revolution. Because of this, the five-door only Civic remains an unusual looker, with the pyramidal outline spiced up this time round by a set of flowing wave-like creases along the sides. There’s no missing the beak-like black grille surround either. Oh, and it finally gets a rear wiper too.

Big news for 2013 was the launch of a long-awaited 1.6 diesel. It followed that up last year with a chassis retune, and now Honda’s finally facelifted the rest of it, giving the Civic a sharp new nose and much more attitude. At last, it’s the real deal. And not before time.