On 6th October 2022, the leading manufacturer of passenger cars in India, Honda Cars India Ltd, kick-started its celebrations to commemorate 25 successful years of Honda City in India. The Honda City was launched in India in 1998. Since its release, the Honda City is now in its 5th generation and has remained the longest-running mainstream model in Indian automotive history.
Speaking about the milestone achievement for Honda City in India, Mr Takuya Tsumura, President, CEO, Honda Cars India Limited said, “This is a landmark year for Honda brand in India. Our most successful model Honda City is among the most loved car brands in India. As the model turns 25 years young, we express our gratitude to all our customers and partners who have supported us over the years and invite everyone to continue to be with us on the journey ahead. Honda City’s Silver Jubilee celebrations are being organized across our pan-India dealer network of 330 facilities in 242 cities and we are taking this opportunity to engage with our consumers and Honda City fans. A communication campaign around this special milestone will also be promoted extensively on digital and social mediums.” “Further to the launch of the 5th generation City in 2020, we also introduced Honda City e: HEV this year as India’s first mainstream model with Strong Hybrid Electric Technology. This model will play a key role in Honda’s electrified vehicle plans in the country going forward”.
Honda City’s first-generation model was sold in India between 1998 -2003 and was based on the sixth-generation Honda Civic. The first-gen City came with a VTEC Hyper 16-valve engine that produced a 106hp of peak power. This generation of the City also kick-started the tuner trend of cars in India.
The second-generation Honda City was conceptualized by the ‘Centre tank layout’. This was inspired by the Honda Jazz platform which was designed with fuel-tank being at the center of the car. The second-generation model was more spacious, comfortable, and fuel-efficient. It also got a new 1.5L i-DSI or “Intelligent Dual & Sequential Ignition” engine. The second-generation City also saw the introduction of a CVT variant and also the introduction of ABS.
The third generation was launched with the all-new 1.5L I-VTEC engine and the look was completely changed. It also offered the best standard safety in its segment, with Dual Front Airbags and ABS with EBD as standard in all variants.
With the 4th -gen City, launched in 2014, Honda introduced the 1.5L I-DTEC diesel engine along with the 1.5L I-VTEC petrol engine. A new generation CVT was also introduced in this City which increased fuel efficiency. The 4th gen City was also one of the most feature-loaded models yet.
The fifth generation of the Honda City was introduced in July 2020. The car comes with Connected Car Services as a standard offering and became India’s First Connected Car with Alexa Remote Capability. This generation also introduced the city e: HEV, India’s first Hybrid Electric model.