Being a comfortable and luxury travel blogger, I am always on a lookout for experiences that talk about comfort and sophistication. In the last three weeks, I have been busy exploring exciting things in the capital. So when Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL), leading manufacturer of passenger cars in India invited me for the car launch of NEW CITY 2017, I was up to find out what’s new from the most popular and successful Japanese car brand. To make the most of it, I ensured to take a friend with me who owns 4th generation Honda City. Together we looked through the newer aspects of the car and here are few snippets from the event.
The launch session of the New City 2017 was held on February 14, 2017 in Delhi. The event was graced by the leadership team of Honda Cars India Ltd., namely, Mr. Yoichiro Ueno, President & CEO and Mr. Raman Kumar Sharma, VP, to name a few. This is the fifth generation of the famous Honda City (as it is popularly called in India) and the first update after the January 2014 launch of 4th generation. The first one was launched in 1998 in India and it is the most popular car in its segment.
NEW CITY 2017
Yes, Honda is back with a bang. They are all set to make a comeback as a market leader position. This newer version boasts of stylish exterior design, enhanced safety features and a high-tech infotainment system. The company has also launched a new flagship version called ‘ZX’. For customers, who want everything in their car, this could be an option to consider.
The New City 2017 is made using the mantra of ‘Advanced, Energetic and Smart’. There are a lot of exterior features like integrated LED Daytime Running Lights (DRL), LED headlamps, LED fog lamps, etc. along with new interior features including the Digipad – an advanced touchscreen infotainment system. As far as the technical specifications are concerned, Honda has no updates. Power and torque will remain the same for the New City 2017.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Yoichiro Ueno, President and CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd. said, “The Honda City has been our most successful model in the country. It has brought joy to over 6.5 lakh customers across the country and has been India’s most successful sedan since its launch in 1998. It has also been the industry benchmark for quality and has been ranked No. 1 by the JD Power Initial Quality Study 14 times since its inception in the Indian market.”
“With the launch of a much-enhanced new Honda City 2017 we aim to exceed our customers’ expectations by offering amazing value at a very competitive price. I am confident that with the new City, we will regain our leadership position in the segment”, he added.
12 things to know about New City 2017.
1. Exterior changes in the front of the car
- Grille has been redesigned
- Chrome bar is now slimmer
- DRL has been included as a part of it
- Bumper has been redesigned
- Top (ZX) variant includes full LED headlamps as well as LED fog lamps
2. Exterior changes at the back
- Redesigned bumper
- Top (ZX) variant has a unique tail lamp design with LED inserts and an integrated rear spoiler
3. Alloy wheel design is all new with the ZX trim now running 16-inch alloys and rest of the variants running 15-inch as previously.
4.Interior changes in the car
- A 17.7cm Digipad available in V, VX and ZX variants, with features like navigation, voice recognition, Bluetooth, 1.5GB internal memory, USB, microSD & HDMI slots and WiFi support for internet
- Soft touch dashboard
- Chrome plating on steering switches and knobs
- Adjustable steering (tilt and telescopic)
- LED interior cabin lights
- Rear adjustable headrests for ZX variant
5. Safety aspect (as standard across the line-up)
- Dual airbags
- Anti-lock Brake System (ABS)
- Seat belt with pretensions
- Impact mitigating front head rest system
- Pedestrian injury mitigation technology
- Rear windshield defogger
6. New top end variant ZX has additional features over and above the previous top trim (VX) which include automatic headlamps, rain sensing wipers and 6 airbags along with other cosmetic updates as mentioned above.
7. The New City 2017 will be available in 5 colors for all the variants
Modern Steel Metallic (New)
White Orchid Pearl
Carnelian Red Pearl
Alabaster Silver Metallic
Golden Brown Metallic
8. The new ZX variant is available only in automatic transmission variant for petrol and manual transmission for diesel.
9. Powertrains have been carried forward unchanged and continue to feature the 100ps diesel engine with a 6-speed manual gearbox and the 119ps petrol engine with a CVT automatic transmission and a 5-speed manual transmission.
10. Previous base trim (E) has been discontinued in case of the petrol engine variant while in case of the diesel engine base two trims have been removed and it now starts at SV. Total trim for petrol are S, SV, V, VX & ZX, petrol CVT are V, VX & ZX and for diesel are SV, V, VX & ZX.
11. On the after sale service aspect, the warranty has now been extended from the previous 2 years/ 40,000 km (extendable to 4 years/ 80,000 km) to 3 years unlimited mileage (extendable to 5 years unlimited mileage). This feature of extended warranty for additional 2 years has been introduced first time in the industry by Honda.
12. On the pricing part, the New City 2017 has been kept at a premium as compared to the rivals in the same segment. It starts at Rs. 849,990 and goes up to Rs. 1356,990. These prices are ex-showroom Delhi. The New City 2017 can be booked at any of the Honda showrooms by paying a small amount of Rs. 21,000.
In my opinion, even with the additions of some exciting features on the external and interior and hailing the concept of “Advanced, Energetic and Smart”, the new Honda City more or less remains the same as compared to its previous generation. But yes since it has been a much-loved car since then, maybe this time it will garner more attention because it is back with more stylish and smart features. I would love to go around the city in the ‘New City’.
Happy Traveling!!
In old 200x I owned a small electro-charged Honda City… It was a very fast, but small car!
Now it is a luxury car! WoW!