GO to www.honda.co.uk and upon pressing the return key you’ll instantly be dazzled (as long as your computer has Flash) with a full-colour splash not usually associated with car manufacturers’ websites.

Honda has done a ‘Kelly Holmes’. It has achieved a second ‘gold’ with its latest ad campaign. First there was the Accord estate ‘cog’ ad with the tumbling, rolling, spinning car parts and now there is the equally amazing campaign for its new diesel engine – given top billing on its website – which has instantly become a conversation piece.

The homepage menus are covered in flowers and a couple of hummingbirds hover back and forth. Without seeing the advert, the site may confuse some users, but even with this new approach it has an easily-navigated top menu which leads visitors to separate sites, one for cars, motorcycles, power equipment, news, store, racing and corporate.

The cars section is more of what you would expect from a manufacturer’s website, with a side menu offering links to all the current models on offer and a top menu linking through to sections such as used cars, finance, owner, news and company car section.

The company car section of the site includes a tax calculator, tables and charts for CO2 emissions and a fleet manager section which offers links through to view the Honda fleet range and to contact Honda or to find a specialist corporate dealer.

The section of the site dedicated to the new CTDi engine really stands out in comparison. Similar to The Beatles ‘Yellow Submarine’ feature film from 1968, the CTDi mini-site is something not only innovative in website design for a car manufacturer but for the whole of web design in 2004. The site, which includes animated sections, includes a spluttering diesel being transformed by a penguin hitting it with a mallet.

The lowdown

The site: www.honda.co.uk

We like: Informative and well presented - allowing for clear and concise information

We don’t like: The mallet-wielding penguin will soon be just a memory