Will the Current Generation of Honda City Get a Diesel Variant?

Think Honda and the first car to come to mind is the City midsize sedan. The City brand has been Honda India’s weapon in the ever growing upper C segment and the car has been pretty much synonymous with the Honda in India.

The Honda City, which is in its third generation in India, has to be the most popular of all Honda India products and continues to be the obvious choice of many petrol powered mid size sedan buyers.

A very refined and free revving petrol engine makes the current City a great option for both relaxed drivers and boy racers. Petrol engines are something that has been a trump card for Honda. The Japanese giant surely knows a thing or two about coming up with high performance petrol mills with stellar efficiency and class leading refinement.

However, thanks to Indian car market’s recent shift towards diesel engines, sales of Honda cars have taken a big hit. The condition is so bad that the very popular Honda Civic, which was powered by a 1.8 litre petrol motor, was recently discontinued owing to lacklustre performance on the sales charts.

Anybody with an IQ greater than that of a cauliflower can say that a diesel engine is what Honda India desperately requires.

Honda India is close to launching the much publicized Honda Brio Amaze sedan in Indian market. The Brio based sedan will sit below the City and will battle it out against the high selling Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire. The most lethal weapon in Brio sedan’s arsenal will be a 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel engine that will make the Honda Brio Amaze the first diesel powered Honda car in India.

This engine has very high chances of making it to Honda City, albeit, in a re-tuned avatar. Once launched, the Honda City Diesel can wreak havoc on the sales of Hyundai Verna and Volkswagen Vento, both of which have high selling diesel variants.

Now, the question that arises is when Honda City Diesel would come to us?

The current gen Honda City came out in 2008 and has already gone through a mild mid-life facelift. Honda cars are known to have a shelf life of 5-6 years. This means we should be having the all new Honda City within next couple of years. This also means that it makes little sense for Honda to invest millions and develop the diesel variant of current gen Honda City.

All this points to a conclusion that Honda might not be bringing in the diesel option for the current gen City. Instead, the car maker will be seen launching the next gen Honda City with the 1.5 litre iDTEC diesel engine.

Following is the speculated spec sheet of Honda City Diesel

Engine Displacement: 1.5 Litres

Forced Induction: YES, Variable Geometry Turbocharger

Max Power: 105 PS

Max Torque: 225 Nm

Transmission: 5 Speed Manual

Kerb Weight: 1150 Kgs