Honda City Sells More Than Maruti Ciaz And Hyundai Verna Put Together

Current trends in the Indian auto market show that SUVs are the biggest sellers, but the Honda City bucks that trend by selling like hotcakes still. The Honda City nameplate has been around since 1998, making it one of the longest-running nameplates currently on sale in India. It is currently in its fifth-generation, and all its predecessors were hugely successful. While all of its erstwhile generations were different from each other, the fourth one instead went on an evolutionary route. The introduction of a diesel option and further improvements meant that the last generation was the most successful City in India, and the new one plans to continue that trend, of sales and evolution.

And it is looking like it's paying dividends as the new Honda City sold 3,523 units in November 2020, which is more than its next two segment rivals’ sales put together. The last generation city sold 1,500 units during the same month of 2019, which means YoY growth is a massive 134.8%. Its segment rivals the Maruti Ciaz and Hyundai Verna sold 1,870 and 1,487 units respectively. It was especially bad for the Verna as it lost 26% on YoY sales. This is a massive gap, and it is even more impressive when you consider that buyers are getting attracted by SUVs currently. The Honda City remains a respected and well-known nameplate, the very reason why it's still posting strong sales numbers.

The fifth-generation Honda City gets a rather extensive list of features complete with an 8-inch touchscreen unit supporting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, a semi-digital instrument panel with a 7-inch display with G-meter, automatic headlights, and auto-dimming rearview mirror. Occupants are also treated to a sunroof, a rear sunshade, ambient lighting, and LED interior lights. As expected from a car in this segment, you get keyless entry with a request sensor for locking and unlocking and push-button start. Honda is also offering the new City with the latest version of its connected car app with Alexa remote capability and the ability to track location and remotely turn engine as well as aircon on for pre-cooling.

You have the option of a diesel or a petrol engine for the new Honda City. The oil burner is a 1.4-litre 4-cylinder unit that makes 100 PS/200 Nm of peak power and torque figures and is mated to a 6-speed manual. The petrol is a 1.5-litre 4-cylinder unit as well and churns max power and torque figures of 120 PS/145 Nm respectively. The petrol can be mated with a 6-speed manual or a CVT auto with paddle shifters.Prices for the 2020 Honda City range from Rs 10.84 – Rs 14.64 lakh, ex-showroom.