Honda Cars India on March 2 launched two variants of its popular selling sedan – the new City (Petrol) and new City e:HEV – in the Indian market with sporty exterior styling, elegant interior enhancements and the introduction of new features for advanced safety, connectivity and convenience.
Both models are BS-6 RDE compliant and are compatible with E5 fuel and E20 material.
“Honda City has been our strongest pillar of business, defining the mid-size sedan segment in India and has achieved immense success during its 25-year glorious legacy. With India as the lead market for the model, we are excited to introduce the New City with a sportier new look and enhanced new features for advanced safety, connectivity and convenience,” Takuya Tsumura, President & CEO of Honda Cars India said.
“We are confident that our esteemed customers, who are increasingly prioritising safety and eco-friendliness in their vehicle choice will appreciate the new City. The expansion of the Honda Sensing application in the new City (Petrol) line-up and new grade introduction for City e:HEV is aligned with Honda’s global vision to promote safe, environment-friendly and fuel-efficient vehicles that meet the changing needs and preferences of today’s consumers,” he added.
A press release issued by the company said, “The new City gets sporty and stylish new looks with a new sporty front grille with diamond-chequered flag pattern, newly designed front bumper with carbon-wrapped lower molding, sporty fog lamp garnish, new rear bumper with sporty carbon-wrapped diffuser, body coloured sporty trunk lip spoiler and newly-designed R16 dual-tone diamond-cut multi-spoke alloy wheels. A brand-new addition to the new City’s fascinating and distinctive colour palette is the Obsidian Blue Pearl colour.”
In line with Honda’s Global Safety Vision to strive for zero collision fatalities involving Honda vehicles by 2050, the new City (Petrol) now comes with Honda Sensing – an advanced driver-assist safety technology that alerts the driver to minimize the risk of accidents and in some cases intervene to mitigate a collision or lessen its severity.
The City e:HEV, which already comes with Honda Sensing, will have an additional feature of “Low-Speed Follow” in the adaptive cruise control function that helps to maintain a safe distance from the preceding vehicle while driving at low speeds/stop-and-go traffic. Another new feature ‘Lead Car Departure Notification System’ has been added to the Honda Sensing suite of safety features in both City (petrol) and City e:HEV that informs the driver with visual and audible alerts when the preceding vehicle starts moving in situations like Traffic Lights junctions.
The Honda Sensing uses a high-performance front camera with a wide-angle, far-reaching detection system to scan the road ahead and alert the driver to minimise the risk of accidents and offer a safer driving experience.
The interior of the new City packs a plush, premium and spacious cabin with dual-tone beige and black interiors in petrol variants, while a luxurious two-tone ivory and black interior colour theme is offered in City e:HEV. Introduction of advanced connectivity features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, improved infotainment system with new background and colours, remote control operation via smart phone application, improved rear camera, wireless charger, rain sensing auto wipers add to the appeal and convenience for the customers.
The company has expanded the City e:HEV range with a new ‘V’ grade in addition to the existing top grade ‘ZX’ to provide customers with more choice and experience of this advanced self-charging strong hybrid electric technology. The new City (Petrol) will also have a new entry ‘SV’ grade for wider set of customers looking to upgrade to the City brand.
The New City (Petrol) comes with 1.5L i-VTEC DOHC engine with Variable Timing Control (VTC) to deliver high fuel efficiency, lower emissions, and spirited driving performance. This high-performance engine a maximum of 145 Nm torque and is mated to a six-speed manual transmission and seven- speed continuously variable transmission (CVT) offering impressive fuel efficiency of 17.8 kmpl and 18.4 kmpl, respectively.
The New City e:HEV features Honda’s unique self-charging and highly efficient two motor e-CVT hybrid system connected to a smooth 1.5-litre Atkinson-Cycle DOHC i-VTEC petrol engine, Intelligent Power Unit (IPU) with advanced lithium-ion battery and an engine-linked direct coupling clutch. The e:HEV electric-hybrid system uses three driving modes – EV Drive, Hybrid Drive and Engine Drive, along with regeneration mode during deceleration.
“The City e:HEV harnesses any electrical energy through braking and self-charges the lithium-ion battery pack with no need to manually charge the battery. The deceleration selector lets the driver change the deceleration to 3 levels without stepping on brake pedal while still maintaining good vehicle control and fuel efficiency,” the release added.
Ex-showroom prices (New Delhi) of new City (Petrol) are:
| New City (i-VTEC) | SV | V | VX | ZX |
| MT | Rs.11,49,000 | Rs.12,37,000 | Rs.13,49,000 | Rs.14,72,000 |
| CVT | – | Rs.13,62,000 | Rs.14,74,000 | Rs.15,97,000 |
Ex-showroom prices (New Delhi) of new City e:HEV are:
| New City (e:HEV) | V | ZX |
| e-CVT | Rs.18,89,000 | Rs.20,39,000 |
