The U.S. newspaper 'Detroit News' has named the new Honda Civic sedan as its 2006 Car of the Year and the Honda Ridgeline as its 2006 Truck of the Year.

Detroit News described the Honda Civic as “yet another over achiever from a company long known for technical innovation and creativity.”

“The ‘06 Civic, which comes in a variety of body styles, as well as both petrol and hybrid petrol-electric variants, establishes benchmarks for comfort, quality and styling in the compact class.”

“With a ground-up redesign, the new Civic pretty much walks away from the competition while moving the bar even higher for the Japanese, the Koreans, the Americans, the Europeans and, ultimately, the Chinese.”

Honda’s Ridgeline – a V6-powered sport utility vehicle sold only in North America – also attracted praise from the Detroit News’ reviewers.

“We can safely say there is nothing on the market quite like the '06 Ridgeline, which is aimed at consumers who previously might not have considered buying either a standard pickup truck or a big SUV,” wrote the judges.

“The exterior design is polarising, and the premise of a car-based truck that's built in Canada likely won't appeal to fans of big Detroit pickups. But the Ridgeline remains in a class by itself, with the ability to attract new customers from minivans, sedans, wagons and SUVs.”

America's 2006 Honda Civic sedan

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