The 2020 Honda City official media drive was also cancelled due to the virus outbreak
The 2020 Honda City was supposed to make its official Indian debut on 16 March, but the ongoing corona virus scare has left Honda Car India with no other option than to postpone the event. In fact, the company had to cancel the official media drive that was set to be held in Goa this week. Honda is not the only brand who had to change its plans for the month and it is not news that the entire business world is inching towards a temporary shutdown.
The new fifth-gen Honda City (seventh in the global market) is one of the most-awaited product launches in the Indian market as of now. Even though the C-segment sedan market in the country has not been doing particularly well in the past few months, the new City is expected to make an impact.
The Honda City has always been a favourite sedan among the wider Indian mass and is also one of the earliest models that have seen the Indian market. It locks horns with the Hyundai Verna (new model coming soon), Volkswagen Vento, Skoda Rapid, Toyota Yaris and, of course, the segment-leading Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. The revamped avatar of the sedan made its first appearance in the Thai market.
From a leaked ARAI document, it was understood that the 2020 Honda City will come in three variants: V, VX and ZX (lesser E, S variants might be introduced alongside). As per reports, the sedan will initially come only with the BS6-compliant version of the 1.5-litre NA four-cylinder i-VTEC petrol engine that makes 119bhp. In its outgoing BS4 format, the engine made 117bhp and 145Nm while mated to either a 5-speed manual transmission or a CVT.
BS6 emission norms have forced many OEMs to focus on a petrol-only portfolio for the country, at least for now. This includes Maruti Suzuki as well as Volkswagen Group (now Skoda Auto Volkswagen India). However, the demand for diesel vehicles will not go down that easily and Honda Car India will definitely add a diesel variant to the new City.
In the BS4 avatar, the Honda City diesel’s 1.5-litre four-cylinder i-DTEC engine is good for 99bhp and 200Nm, coupled to a 6-speed manual gearbox. The 2020 Honda City diesel might get a CVT option as well; making it the first product in its class to feature a diesel-CVT combo. The Honda Amaze compact-sedan was the first car in India to come with a diesel-CVT powertrain.
