The 2020 Honda City will launch in India next month with a complete revamp and BS6 power plants.
Honda Car India has teased the next-generation City sedan in a new image. The teaser image does show a portion of the front fascia, which looks almost identical to the Thai-spec model that was unveiled back in November 2019. The India-spec Honda City gets LED headlights, seen on board the RS variant of Thai-spec City. The lower bumper of India-spec City is same as that of Thai-spec City regular variant.
The 2020 Honda City gets full-LED headlamps, bigger radiator grille and extra-sculpted bumpers compared to the outgoing BS4 model. The roof is much flatter. This translates to a better sense of roominess and airiness inside the car. The Thailand-spec Honda City debuted with 15-inch wheels, but Indian examples might sport 16-inch wheels. In fact, all the 2020 Honda City test mules that were spied in recent times across the country drove on 16-inch wheels.
The interiors have also undergone a massive upgrade. A decently-sized touchscreen infotainment system which supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is just a start of a long list of features on the inside. The Indian C-segment sedan market has a few desirable choices and the Honda City has always been a popular choice in the category. Hence, to have an edge over its rivals, the 2020 Honda City will be loaded with enough and more.
The all-new Honda City 2020 will make its entry into the Indian market with two familiar, but BS6-compliant, engine choices: 1.5-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel. In their current BS4 formats, the petrol engine makes 117bhp and 145Nm of torque while the diesel mill is good for 99bhp and 200Nm. The power plants come mated to either a 5-speed (petrol) or 6-speed (diesel) manual transmission. The petrol motor can be opted with a 7-step CVT as well.
Updating these engines to BS6 emission standards may result in slightly different output (oftentimes negligible). Furthermore, for the very first time, the Honda City might come in a diesel-CVT automatic format in its 2020 avatar. The Honda Amaze compact-sedan is already available in a diesel-CVT format and is the first car in India to feature such a powertrain.
Prices for the 2020 Honda City are expected to start at around Rs 10-11 lakh ex-showroom. Meanwhile, there are rumours of an electrified variant (quite possibly a mild-hybrid) that might be introduced sometime next year. The Honda City mainly rivals the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Hyundai Verna, Skoda Rapid and Volkswagen Vento.
