Production of the 5th generation Honda City has begun

The much awaited refreshed Honda City has entered production at HCIL’s (Honda Cars India Ltd.) Greater Noida plant located in Uttar Pradesh. Due to the Covid 19 crisis, factories all over the country had been temporarily closed, and this negatively impacted sales and launch events of vehicles. Finally after receiving the Governments instruction, automakers started manufacturing vehicles by the end of May, and HCILs UP plant started production in mid-June. With a few weeks left to the launch of the City, Rajesh Goel, Senior Vice President & Director of Honda Cars India said that the pre-launch phase of the City had been positive, despite the dull state of the market.

The 2020 Honda City is looking to make a strong comeback, it appears to be armed in new ways and seems to be battle ready. In terms of dimensions, the new City is now the longest and widest vehicle in its segment, the length of the 2020 City is 4,549 mm, 1,748 mm in width, 1,489 mm in height and the wheelbase is 2,600 mm. Numbers like these suggest that leg-space and roominess in the cabin are assured. The next generation City incorporates many new features, inside and out and as well as under the hood. On viewing the car from the outside, you would notice the new LED headlamps, its Z shaped taillights. The vehicle now rides on 16-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels. Furthermore, the new city makes use of new design platform which has made the vehicle lighter, increased the rigidity and the safety structure used within the car is apparently equivalent of the ASEAN (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations) N-CAP 5 star rating.

The cabin of the City now has a plethora of new features. The prime changes on the interior would be in the form of the new 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system which supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a 7-inch HD digital instrument cluster which displays the G-Meter (but does a car of this nature really need one?). Other features include a sunroof, a LaneWatch Camera and many other features as well. The 5th generation Honda City is an internet connected vehicle, and it moves a step forward by introducing ‘Alexa Remote Capability’. It is also equipped with Honda’s Connect System.

The 2020 City is powered by 2 engines, a petrol and a diesel. The petrol 1.5 litre i-VTEC DOHC, engine has been updated to produce 121 ps and 145 nm of torque, and it has been mated to a 6 speed manual or an optional CVT. The diesel on the other hand is a 1.5 i-DTEC diesel engine which makes 100 ps and 200 nm of torque. The diesel powertrain uses a 6 speed manual shifter as the only mode of transmission.

Apart from having a safety structure equivalent to that of the ASEAN N-CAP 5 star rating, the City is stocked with other safety features like Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) with Agile Handling Assist (AHA), 6 airbags, a reversing camera, rear parking sensors, and a three point seatbelt function for all occupants. In the GNCAP crash test, the new City attained a 5-star rating, thereby proving that the City is a very safe vehicle.

On release, the City will be going up against the Maruti Ciaz, the recently updated Hyundai Verna and Skoda Rapid 1.0 TSI. The 2020 City is surely a looker, has the right features as well, now it all depends on how Honda prices this vehicle, I believe it could be priced from 11 lakhs to 15 lakhs (prices being ex-showroom).