The sportier looking City RS
The Honda City, a brand that is the most respected and much popular in the Indian market, seen in the Indian market in various iterations and designs the car has won the hearts of many fans who are loyal to the brand.
However with rising competition and the advancing world, the current generation started showing signs of age. Nevertheless Honda has now unveiled the all new fifth Generation City at the world premiere at Thailand and is scheduled to come to India by the middle of 2020. The fifth generation Honda City will be sold in S, V SV and a newly introduced RS sporty trim.
The all new Honda City sports an updated design with future ready looks but is still recognizable as a City in its overall stiloute. The City gets a short bonnet flanked by a large thick chrome band upfront along with large sweptback LED headlamps, while the bumper gets an interesting chin near the air dam and hexagonal air inlets.
Along the sides it gets two thick waistlines, one that runs into the boot and one at the bottom of the doors.The rear too is very much different from the current City; a well shaped boot along with longer and larger taillights and reflectors on the bumpers brighten up the otherwise clean looking rear.
The interior on the flipside is a whole different world and is noticeable especially if you have been a Honda fan for a long time now. The dashboard sports a whole new design and looks better laid out that the one on the outgoing car. it gets an 8.0 inch touchscreen infortainment system flanked by smartly designed chrome wrapped air con vents on either side. Surprisingly Honda has choosen to have traditional rotary Air-con control dials instead of the touchscreen based functions seen on recent Honda’s in the Indian market.
The City for Thailand comes wrapped in two tone ivory black interior with a piano black finish at the centre and chrome dipped door handles. But the City for India is more likely to favour a black and beige colour trim setup in accordance with Indian customer needs. The RS variant if it makes it to the Indian market could very well come with the ivory black interior seen here. Also visible from the pics released by Honda online is leather wrapped three spoke steering wheel, large dead pedal and an analogue instrument cluster.
Power for the 2020 Honda City globally comes from 1.0 litre 3-cylinder VTEC turbo petrol motor. The motor makes 122ps at 5,500rp, and 173Nm of torque at 2,000-4,500rpm and comes mated to a 7-speed CVT automatic with paddle shifters only. The City in the Indian markets is unlikely to get the 1.0 litre turbo petrol engine and is instead expected to get an improved version of the existing 1.5 litre petrol motor.
Honda has also updated the City’s safety kit with advanced safety technologies such as G-CON (G-Force Control) body structure, six airbags, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), Hill Start Assist (HSA), and Multi-angle Rearview Camera on offer.
Scheduled to arrive in Indian shores sometime late next year, competition for the 2020 City will come from the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Volkswagen Vento, Skoda Rapid, Hyundai Verna and Toyota Yaris.
What is your take on the new 2020 Honda City; do let us know in the comments section below.