Honda City Facelift Coming In 2017

The Honda City ruled in its segment for years in India. None of its competitors offered the joyous recipe that the Japanese manufacturer concocted with the City. Its rev-happy engines, practical interiors and unimpeachable reliability made it the obvious choice for anyone looking for a sedan under the Rs 10 lakh mark. Of late, though, the City has lost ground to tough competitors such as the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Volkswagen Vento and the Hyundai Verna. It’s time for the Japanese to fight back.

Come 2017 and Honda will introduce a facelifted version of the City - a much needed refreshment to revive the marque. What it will look like is still unknown but knowing how automakers try and save money, it is expected that the facelift will carry the same design cues as the Honda Greiz – the Honda City’s equivalent in China. That means the refreshed City will feature the company’s new design language as seen on the recently launched Accord sedan. The headlights will have different profiling, with some elements echoing the ones found on the Jazz. Similar styling tweaks are expected on its back, with a redesigned bumper, taillights and chrome garnishing.

On the inside, Honda is expected to load the City with features such as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, half-a-dozen airbags, leather seats and voice command compatibility. The updated City is also expected to wear newly designed alloy wheels to complete the mid-life revival.

Under the hood, Honda will equip the facelift with the same powertrains as the current City. While the 1.5-litre petrol motor is tuned to produce 119PS of power and 145Nm of torque, the 1.5-litre diesel mill pumps out 100PS of power and 200Nm of torque. The petrol engine is mated to either a 5-speed manual transmission or a CVT gearbox, and the diesel mill is mated to a 6-speed manual box.

With these updates, the City will surely demand more attention from customers looking to spend on a family sedan. However, Honda has a habit of pricing its products on the higher side. If the company can keep the same pricing intact, the City can once again head towards topping sales charts in its segment.