With the City facelift, Honda has introduced two new entry level trims and is offering ADAS even on the petrol variants.
Honda has launched the facelift of the fifth-generation City starting from Rs 11.49 lakh and going up to Rs 20.39 lakh for the top-spec City Hybrid. The City facelift features minor cosmetic changes, more equipment, new entry-level variants and a new paint shade.
Bookings for the Honda City facelift are already underway for Rs 5,000 if booked online and Rs 21,000 if booked at a dealership.
Honda City facelift: exterior and interior details
Like most mid-life-cycle facelifts, the updated City gets minor cosmetic changes inside-out. From the front, Honda has tweaked the bumpers, and the grille now features a slimmer chrome bar. The facelift retains the sharply styled, sweptback tail lamps with nine LED arrays as before. The grille design is also updated, and features honeycomb pattern on higher variants and vertical slats on lower variants.
On the side, there are a few changes except for a new design for alloys on lower variants. At the rear, the City facelift gets newly designed bumpers and Honda has changed the positioning of the reflectors. Honda is also offering the new Obsidian Blue Pearl paint shade option with this update.
Like the exterior, the changes to the interior of the City facelift are minimal. The layout, upholstery and switchgear remain almost unchanged.
Honda City facelift: new variants, equipment
With this facelift, Honda has added new entry-level variants to the City range. It sees the addition of the new SV trim, which only comes with manual transmission. The City facelift, in the petrol guise, is now available in a total of four trims – SV, V, VX and ZX. Except for the SV trims, the rest get an option of a CVT gearbox.
Honda has also introduced the new entry-level V trim on the City Hybrid, which was previously available only in the top-spec ZX trim.
In terms of the equipment, the City facelift gets ADAS features like adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist and autonomous emergency braking even on the petrol variants. Earlier, ADAS was present only on the City Hybrid. Interestingly, Honda is offering ADAS on the manual variants of the petrol City too. Normally, it’s only the automatic variants that are equipped with the ADAS tech.
Higher variants of the midsize sedan get features like six airbags, tyre-pressure monitoring system (TPMS), rain-sensing wipers, ambient lighting, wireless charger and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Honda City facelift: powertrain details
The City facelift ditches the 1.5-litre diesel engine, ahead of the upcoming Real Driving Emission (RDE) norms. Honda is only offering the City with the 121hp, 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine paired to either a 6-speed manual or a CVT gearbox, and a 126hp, Atkinson Cycle 1.5-litre petrol-hybrid paired to an eCVT transmission. The City is still the only car that offers a strong-hybrid powertrain in its class. Both the petrol and petrol-hybrid powertrains will meet RDE norms as well as be E20 (20 percent ethanol blend) compliant.
Honda City facelift: rivals
The Honda City facelift will take on the likes of the Skoda Slavia, Volkswagen Virtus, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and the Hyundai Verna. Hyundai is all set to launch the new-gen Verna on March 21, and will feature radical new looks and two petrol powertrain options. While not a model change or even a major facelift, Maruti Suzuki recently updated the Ciaz with more features and additional paint shade options in a bid to keep it fresh amidst the competition.
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