Honda had launched the current generation City back in 2014, which later got a facelift in 2017. Since the last 2-3 years, the City has continuously been fighting for the top-spot with the Ciaz, however Ciaz has comfortably managed a decent lead over the Japanese sedan. As a part of yearly updates, Honda has shuffled the trim list on the City to make the overall offering more attractive.
With the 2019 update, Honda has introduced the ZX trim on the petrol MT version of the City however it has removed a trim level as well. Earlier, there were 5 trims on offer, namely the S, SV, V, VX and ZX. However, from 2019, the S trim has been discontinued and now the SV trim will serve as the entry level trim for the City.
This also means that the entry-level price for the City has now gone up considerably. The new base trim, the SV grade in the petrol MT configuration now retails at Rs 9.91 lakhs. The range topping ZX CVT petrol retails at INR 14.29 lakhs while the ZX MT petrol is available for INR 12.75 lakhs. The ZX MT diesel is also retailed at INR 14.05 lakhs while the entry level SV MT diesel is available at INR 11 lakhs.
In comparison, price range of of Hyundai Verna is Rs 8 to 14 lakhs, while that of Maruti Ciaz is Rs 8.2 to 11 lakhs. Honda City ranges from Rs 10 to 14.3 lakhs. All prices are ex-showroom.
Apart from the changes in the variant line-up, Honda has revamped the colour pallet as well. 2 new shades, Lunar Silver Metallic and Radiant Red Metallic have been introduced and they have replaced the Alabaster Silver Metallic and Carnelian Red Pearl respectively. Other colour options Modern Steel Metallic, Golden Brown Metallic and White Orchid Pearl continue to be on offer.
Next major launch from Honda will be the 2019 Honda Civic which is scheduled for a launch in Q1 2019. The sedan was discontinued in India in 2012 due to poor sales and unavailability of a diesel motor. However, this time the sedan will be launched along with a diesel motor as well, the same 1.6 litre unit which is on offer on the current generation CR-V as well.
