Honda’s UK operation enters a new level as the brand-new Civic Tourer’s mass production starts at the firm’s renowned manufacturing plant in Swindon. The Tourer version of the Civic is a car designed and developed in Europe for the Europeans, and it is expected to be an instant hit.

The reason for that is because the car covers all the bases for a best-selling car in Europe. The Honda Civic Tourer is hugely practical, incredibly efficient, and above all, it’s a wagon. Europe loves wagons.

To be launched in early 2014, the Civic Tourer comes with the choice of two engines; the 1.8 i-VTEC petrol and the new 1.6 i-DTEC diesel. The latter will be definitely be the most popular in Europe, as it does 74.33mpg on the combined cycle, giving a range of 817 miles on one tank of fuel and CO₂emissions of just 99g/km.

As you’d expect, there is a catch. And that is the lack of decent performance. With 120 PS of power and 300 Nm of torque on the tap, 0 to 60 mph takes nearly 11 seconds in this car. But then you don’t buy a diesel for speed, do you?

As for the practical stuff, Honda Civic Tourer with its boxy rear-end offers 624 litres of boot space. That is with the rear seats up. There is a feature called Magic Seat system, which in plain English means a flat floor and up to 1,668 litres of load capacity. And that’s plenty.