Current Honda City To Remain On Sale Alongside The New Model

Honda Cars India Ltd is planning to sell the ongoing Honda City alongside the upcoming new-gen model. The carmaker has decided to widen the spread of the models in the sedan segment. Both models will occupy different sections of the segment. This thing will help the automaker to address a whole new set of buyers. The ongoing model will probably use its current name, while the all-new Honda City will get a suffix, like what Toyota did to the Innova ‘Crysta’. In Thailand, the fifth-gen City is named as City Turbo, but the India-spec model won’t be getting a turbo-petrol motor, so, the carmaker will not use this nomenclature.

On the other hand, Honda can also modify the name of the ongoing model, just like what Maruti Suzuki did to the Swift Dzire. Maruti named the older and more affordable trim of the Dzire as Dzire Tour, which mainly targets the fleet owners. Just like the Maruti Dzire, the ongoing City will also target the fleet market once the new-gen model steps in.

Talking about the new generation Honda City, the upcoming sedan is expected to be priced Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000 higher than the fourth-gen model. Expectedly, the all-new City will be retailed at a starting price of Rs 11.3 lakh (ex-showroom) and will go all the way up to Rs 17.3 lakh (ex-showroom). Once launched, it’ll compete with the likes of Hyundai Verna, Maruti Ciaz, Skoda Rapid and VW Vento.

The new-gen model will rival against the Hyundai Venue, Skoda Rapid, Maruti Ciaz and VW Vento

Mechanically, the C2-segment sedan will derive power from an all-new BS6-compliant 1.5-litre petrol unit that produces 120bhp of maximum power and 145 Nm of peak torque. The sedan will also get propelled by a BS6-compliant 1.5-litre oil-burner, which churns out power and torque outputs of 100bhp and 200 Nm. Both the powertrain options will come paired with a 6-speed MT or a CVT automatic gearbox. The launch of the new model should take place in the coming weeks. 

Source: Autocar