Along with the facelift, the City and City Hybrid will get new base trims.
Honda has teased the City facelift ahead of its launch and price announcement on March 2, 2023. We’d recently reported that the refreshed City will be available for test drives from March 3 onwards and deliveries will begin sometime after.
Honda City facelift: exterior design changes
While the teaser barely shows the design of the City facelift, we had reported earlier that it will get mildly refreshed looks. The front and rear bumpers get a new design and the chrome bar in the front fascia that spanned the width of the car is now thinner. The 16-inch alloy wheels in the higher trims get a new design, while the lower trims will continue to be offered with 15-inch alloy wheels. With the update, Honda will add a new Obsidian Blue paint shade as well.
Honda City facelift: new variants, features
The City facelift will also get a new entry-level SV trim with only a 6-speed manual gearbox on offer. The remaining trims – V, VX and ZX – will also have an option for the CVT gearbox. In addition to the new City SV variant, Honda will also introduce a new City e:HEV VX trim in order to bring down the starting price of the hybrid sedan.
The City facelift will also get ADAS features such as adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist and autonomous emergency braking. Earlier, the ADAS suite was only available with the City hybrid and will trickle down to the petrol versions as well. Other safety features include up to six airbags, rain-sensing wipers, TPMS, wireless charging and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Honda City facelift: powertrains
With this update, the City facelift will become a petrol-only sedan. It will continue with the 121hp, 1.5-litre petrol engine mated to either a 6-speed manual or a CVT gearbox. It will also have the 126hp, 1.5-litre Atkinson cycle hybrid engine mated to an e-CVT gearbox. As of now, the City is the only car in the midsize sedan to offer a strong-hybrid powertrain.
Honda will upgrade both engines to meet the RDE (real driving emissions) norms and E20 compliance. However, there will be no diesel engine on offer due to a lack of sales and RDE regulations.
Honda City facelift: rivals
The City facelift will continue to rival the Volkswagen Virtus, Skoda Slavia, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and the soon-to-be-launched next-gen Hyundai Verna.
What do you think of the Honda City facelift? Let us know in the comments below.
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