The fifth-gen Honda City was unveiled for the first time recently at an event in Thailand. Along with the standard car, Honda also took the wraps off it's sportier RS Turbo variant. The City RS Turbo will first go on sale in the Thailand market in the the months ahead and will subsequently hit more international markets.
The City RS Turbo is essentially a sporty version of the standard model. It gets sportier front and rear bumpers with black inserts, a subtle black trunk-lid-mounted rear spoiler, darkened glass for its tail lamps and full-LED headlamps with black inserts. The new variant also gets larger 16-inch alloy wheels instead of the 15-inch ones seen on the standard City for the Thailand market.
On the inside, it gets sportier trimming on the dashboard and centre console, different seat fabric and red accents on the instrument cluster. Under the hood, the RS Turbo gets the same 122hp, 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, mated to a CVT gearbox, as the City for Thailand.
The current fifth-gen Honda City is aimed at the Thailand domestic market and due to its stringent emission and taxation rules, the model misses out on a few features that were available on the fourth-generation car. However, the new India-spec Honda City is expected to get a long list of features that may better the outgoing model’s and will also come with BS6-compliant petrol and diesel engine options.
For the Indian market, Honda will bring a new 1.5-litre petrol engine coupled with mild-hybrid tech that is similar to the one that will be sported by the all-new Jazz hatchback sold internationally (as the Honda Fit). Additionally, India will also get the 1.5-litre diesel engine – the same unit that is available on the current-gen City, but updated to comply with the new BS6 emission norms.
The fifth-gen Honda City will come to India in the second half of 2020. In the Indian market, the new City will rival the likes of the heavily updated Hyundai Verna, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, the Toyota Yaris, the Volkswagen Vento and the Skoda Rapid. Expect more details on the India-spec Honda City to surface closer to the model’s market introduction.
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