A versatile wagon based on the new Honda Civic hatch will bolster the Japanese manufacturer’s small car line-up by 2014.

Honda released a teaser sketch of the new stretched Civic wagon at the 2012 Paris motor show, foreshadowing a concept that is tipped to be unveiled at March’s 2013 Geneva motor show ahead of the production model’s showroom debut either late in 2013 or sometime in 2014.

The Honda Civic wagon will be produced alongside the Civic hatch at Honda’s UK manufacturing plant in Swindon where it will be joined in 2015 by the recently confirmed all-new Honda Civic Type-R hot-hatch. The Honda Civic sedan sold in Australia is produced in Thailand.

Honda Australia says the only information it has on the new wagon at this stage is that it is a vehicle “for Europe”, although its promise of right-hand drive production seemingly improves its chances of reaching our market at some point in the future.

The teaser image of the Civic wagon suggests the new variant will largely mirror the front and rear styling of the hatchback, with aggressively angular headlights and tail-lights and broad hips over the back wheels.

A floating roof that eschews a conventional D-pillar may enhance rear visibility, although the sleek tapered roofline and narrow glass section suggests, like the hatch, that form may continue to take priority over function.

The wagon also carries over the concealed rear door handle design of the hatch, with the lever positioned in the C-pillar to create a smoother profile.

The Honda Civic wagon will compete with a number of small estate models in Europe, including the new Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, Chevrolet (Holden) Cruze and the upcoming Toyota Auris (Corolla).