Honda Cars India Ltd., on Tuesday, launched the much-awaited fourth generation Honda City in the Indian market with prices starting from Rs.7.42 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the petrol model. The mid-sized sedan will also be available in diesel variant for the first time.
“With the best of both petrol and diesel technologies available in Honda City, we are very confident about the success of the model, which will significantly contribute to our business growth in India,” Honda Cars India (HCIL) President and CEO Hironori Kanayama told reporters here.
The diesel variants of the new City are priced in the range of Rs.8.62-11.10 lakh, while petrol versions will cost in the range of Rs.7.42-10.98 lakh.
The Japanese car maker had launched the first-generation Honda City in India in 1998, and has so far sold 4.3 lakh units of the car. It had discontinued the third-generation model of the car in November.
The company said it had received 9,000 pre-launch bookings, since they were opened in November.
“Out of these 9,000 pre-launch bookings, 70 per cent are for the diesel versions and the rest for the petrol variants,” Honda City, HCIL Senior Vice-President (Marketing and Sales) Jnaneswar Sen said.
The petrol variant of the new Honda City comes with the existing 1.5 litre iVTEC engine, while the diesel variant will have the recently- launched 1.5 iDTEC diesel motor.
The other cars that are available in the country in this segment include Hyundai Verna, Volkswagen Vento, Skoda Rapid, Nissan Sunny and Maruti Suzuki SX4, among others.
The company at present sells four models in the country — Brio, Amaze, City and CRV, and is also looking to expand its dealer network.
“At the start of this financial year, we had 150 dealerships. By the end of March 2014, we plan to have 170 dealerships across the country,” Mr. Sen said.
