Honda has launched the City e:HEV hybrid in India as the new flagship in the City range and will be selling the fourth-gen version alongside its fifth-gen iteration. It has also introduced mild updates to both generations of the City sedan in India.
Honda continues to sell the 4th-gen City in India in two trims — SV and V — only in a petrol-manual guise. With this latest update, the base SV trim has been additionally equipped with a 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system which was only available on the higher-spec V trim.
The infotainment system, however, is Honda’s previous-gen software and does not get the latest tech and features. Surprisingly, despite the addition of the new touchscreen, prices for the 4th-gen City SV trim remain unchanged.
The 5th-gen City sees a few minor deletions — the base V trim will not be offered with front and rear mud guards as standard anymore, with the chrome-finished interior door handles being replaced by plain, black plastic door handles across all trims.
The biggest loss from the 5th-gen City’s features list is the dual-tone 16-inch spare alloy wheel. This instead has been replaced by a 15-inch steel space saver unit.
While the new touchscreen on the 4th-gen City is certainly a welcome addition, the updates on the 5th-gen City are simply cost-cutting measures.
Honda will be removing trim badges from all their models in India. That means the various trims — V, VX and ZX — badges of which were put on the tailgate, will be done away with. There is just one exception though — the e:HEV badge on the City Hybrid’s boot lid will be retained.
