PRICES for the new Honda Civic saloon have been announced which will see the vehicle starting from £19,395 when it goes on sale in August.

That's only £500 more than a similar specification version of the Civic hatch and the saloon range will top out from £27,120 to a top grade EX diesel automatic.

Just two engines are being offered on the saloon - a 1.0-litre 129ps petrol and a 1.6-litre diesel with 120ps on tap and said to be capable of averaging 83.1mpg.

With emissions as low as 91g/km for the i-DTEC manual and 110g/km for the petrol model the car is one of the cleanest in its class which sees it up against the likes of the Mazda3 Fastback and the Audi A3 saloon.

The petrol engined Civic saloon will also be offered with a CVT gearbox from £20,795 and that is even more fuel efficient with a claimed 60.1mpg equating to 107g/km. Fuel figures for the manual rate it at 58.9mpg.

An auto transmission is available on the diesel engine priced from £22,415 which has a CO2 figure of 108g/km, the equivalent of 68.9mpg.

Manual versions of the diesel start from £20,745 for a saloon in SE trim.

Measuring some 15ft 2ins in length the Civic saloon is almost 11 inches longer than the hatch and is also slightly wider but lower and with a longer wheelbase.

Boot space at 519 litres is class leading and almost 40 litres larger than the hatch.

While the hatchback version is built at Honda's UK factory in Swindon, the saloon will be produced in Turkey and trim levels are similar starting at SE grade which includes a full set of safety systems including forward collision detection, lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control.

Mid-range SR models add automatic wipers, dual climate control, parking sensors, a rear view camera and Honda's Connect system which is fully smartphone compatible.

Top grade EX versions have leather seats, LED head and fog lamps, wireless phone charging and heated rear seats.

PCP pricing has also been confirmed for the new car with monthly payments of £259 a month on a three year, 10,000 mile contract on 5.9 per cent APR for a 1.6 i-DTEC SR manual.

The arrival of the four-door model completes the Civic range which also includes an estate as well as the ultra-hot Type R model.