Honda bets big on new City diesel

Honda Cars India is betting big on the new Honda City and expects this fourth-generation car to eclipse the sales record of its predecessors. The carmaker sold a mere 59,000 units of the original City in five years while the second-generation Honda City (nicknamed 'Dolphin' because of its ungainly sty ling) found 178,000 buyers from 2003 -2008. The third-generation City performed marginally better during its lifecycle (2008-2013) with 193,000 units retailed. It's important to note that the previous Honda City managed to become the best-selling City in the midst of the diesel boom. So now, with a diesel engine in its arsenal, Honda is banking on sales of an average 4,000 units a month over the car's 5-6 year lifecycle. A majority of the sales (as long as the petrol / diesel fuel price gap is reasonably large) are expected to be diesel.

Prices have not been announced yet, but company sources hint that the new City will be pegged directly against the Verna. So how will it fare? The fluidic styling has been the Verna's strong point and the new City's design doesn't make a big impact. In fact, the evolutionary styling is one of the big disappointments of the new Honda City and from the front it looks more like a face-lift than an all-new model.

Honda has concentrated its efforts on the interior and in fact has more than made up for the previous car's shortfalls. The mechanical controls for the air-con, which looked so out of place in the old car, have been replaced by a unique touch-screen in the new City.  Honda has also listened to customers (and us) and  given back a CD player, which was absent in the previous car. Also, the new City is packed with goodies you don't normally expect in a Honda. You get a reverse camera, rear air-con vents, cruise control and four charging sockets in addition to the usual list of equipment.

Honda's intent is clear - for several years, the Japanese carmaker had dominated the midsize segment and now with the new Honda City, it wants to do just that again 

More on the new Honda City

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