Honda City Revival

Honda City is a subcompact car that is very popular in East Asian countries. It is best described as stylish, spacious and fuel efficient. Due to its spacious legroom, the first model was a small three-door hatchback that became an instant hit in Japan. The roomy interior was comparable to many four-door sedans. The Japanese were also impressed by its elegant appearance and low cost, which laid the foundation for the success of the City brand.

Death and rebirth of the City brand

Design changes and management problems quickly outpaced its fame and the city was forgotten between 1986 and 1994. Its revival in 1996 was also swift as its predecessor. The new model was based on the Honda Civic platform and came equipped with the 1.5L VTEC engine. Again, legroom and trunk space were vastly improved by transferring the fuel tank under the rear seats to the front seats. . This modification proved to be a catalyst for sales of the Honda City as customers once again preferred a spacious interior and excellent fuel economy, compared to its competitors in the South Asian markets, the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. Today, it is mainly produced in Pakistan, Thailand, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. This third-generation Honda model is based on the D-series engines, namely the 13D and 15D. Although the power of these engines has been reduced somewhat, the Honda City excels in weight-to-power ratio. The power of the type 15D engine is approximately 115 hp and supports a weight of almost 985 kg. By contemporary standards for small and compact sedans, the Honda City can do 0-60 mph in an impressive 10 seconds.

Fourth Generation Honda City

The success of the third-generation Honda City led engineers to make significant changes to the exterior structure that made a revitalized fourth-generation model even more impressive. In 2002, China experimented with the new model and called it the Honda Fit. Subsequently, the new City models were first introduced in Indonesia, and later promoted in other markets, including Singapore. The restyled model offered a bold exterior look that included headlights, fog lights, bumpers, and headlamps. Additionally, the chassis was enlarged to provide additional features not present on the Honda Fit. Both manual and automatic i-DSi and VTEC cam equip alloy wheels and standard equipment. It also has a CVT gearbox, which is a seven-speed transmission with override capabilities using the paddle shift button, which is very rare for a vehicle in its class.

Now, the fifth-generation Honda Civic has the distinction of production outside of Asian markets, in Brazil. The distinctive feature of this fifth generation Honda City is the range of different classes and environmentally friendly ethanol variants. From its rapid progress, it seems that Honda City is destined to stay for the long haul.