Honda City facelift launch on February 14

Bookings for the 2017 Honda City have commenced at a minimum booking amount of Rs 21,000

Honda introduced its popular mid-sized sedan, City in January 2014. Since then the car hasn’t received a substantial update. The 2017 Honda City was recently unveiled in Thailand and now the Japanese car maker is ready to launch it in India on February 14. Bookings for the updated City have already commenced at a minimum booking amount of Rs 21,000.

The Honda City has been the best-selling car in its class for a while, but due to the lack of timely updates the numbers seem to have taken a hit. In fact, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz has registered better sales than the City in a few months last year. More importantly, with car makers like Hyundai updating their models every two years, Honda could not afford to ignore the City any longer.

Updates to the new Honda City include a restyled front-end with a bolder chrome grille. The shape of the headlights has been altered and it now come fitted with LED Daytime Running Lamps. The bumper now gets a larger air dam and revised fog lamp casings. At the back, the boot-lid now gets a spoiler and redesigned taillights with LED inserts.

There will be no changes on the mechanical front. The 2017 Honda City will continue to be offered with a 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engine option. The petrol makes 117bhp and 145Nm while the diesel churns out 99bhp and 200Nm. The gasoline powered City comes mated to a 5-speed transmission and a CVT. The diesel on the other hand only comes paired with a 6-speed manual transmission.

In terms of features, the facelifted City will come with an updated infotainment system that features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The base trim will come fitted with dual airbags and ABS while the top-spec model might get 6 airbags. Like the current generation model, the facelift too will get leather wrapped steering wheel and upholstery in the fully-loaded trims. Honda is also expected to revive the ‘ZX’ badge along with the launch of the City facelift. Expect the 2017 Honda City to demand a premium over the current model which is priced starting Rs 8.31 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi).