ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 28, 2010 -- Honda dealers in Oklahoma have the option of selling the compressed natural gas version of the Civic, the Civic GX, to consumers. Three of the 13 Honda dealers in Oklahoma are currently selling the Civic GX as a fleet model; now, every Honda dealer in the state can sell it to consumers.

"Expanding Honda's Civic GX retail program, along with the continued success of fleet sales, expresses our commitment to the environment and natural gas vehicle technology," said Elmer Hardy, senior manager of Alternative Fuel Vehicle Sales & Marketing. "Honda seeks market opportunities for the Civic GX where strong natural gas refueling infrastructure exists, and we continue to see its promise as a clean, sustainable, domestically-sourced alternative fuel."

Honda began selling the GX to retail customers in California in 2006; today there are 43 California dealers offering the model. New York has 19 dealers selling the Civic GX, and Utah has eight. Including fleet sales, there are 134 dealers in 33 states selling Civic GX.

Honda says Oklahoma is a good market to grow retail sales of the Civic GX for a number of reasons: low refueling costs, a generous state tax incentive toward the purchase of a new Civic GX, and solid fleet sales. Plus, as the second largest natural gas producing state in the U.S., Oklahoma already has a strong existing CNG station infrastructure with plans to expand the network over the next several years.

Civic GX gets an EPA-estimated city/highway fuel economy of 24/36 miles per gasoline-gallon equivalent and is the only vehicle certified by the EPA to meet both Federal Tier 2-Bin 2 and Inherently Low Emission Vehicle (ILEV) zero evaporative emission certification standards.