Designed and developed in Europe and set to be built at Honda’s UK manufacturing facility in Swindon, alongside the Civic hatchback and CR-V, the Tourer will be available with a 1.8-litre petrol engine and the carmaker’s new 1.6-litre diesel which should offer CO2 emissions of less than 100g/km.

The Tourer has grown an additional 235mm in length, while boot volume totals 624 litres with the seats up or 1,668 litres with the bench folded flat and loaded up to the roof lining – 147 litres and 290 litres greater than the hatchback and larger than the Golf Estate.

Its under-floor storage space in the boot and clever Magic Seat rear bench, which allows the rear bench to lift so tall items fit in behind the driver, are carried over from the hatchback, and the Tourer debuts a new adaptive suspension setup with three selectable settings.

Honda says the boot will accommodate two full-size mountain bikes or three large suitcases, while the floor has been raised to offer a flat loading area with space to store the tonneau cover underneath and the load lip has been dropped to allow easier access.