Honda has just launched the 2012 City facelift in India. The company has expanded the City range by offering more variants and at a cheaper price point, enticing buyers to the Honda camp. The changes to the City are purely cosmetic in nature and the car continues to be powered by the same tried and tested, 1.5-liter i-VTEC engine which produces 118 PS of peak power at 6600 RPM and 146 Nm of peak torque at 4800 RPM. The ARAI certified mileage of the City is 16.81 kmpl. The changes to the Honda City include a new chrome grille, restyled front and rear bumpers, 10-spoke alloy wheels, turn indicators on rear view mirrors, new tail lamps, 10-spoke alloy wheels, new center console, new Blue combination meter, new fabric seats, chrome inserts on the dashboard, cruise control, sunroof and leather seats. The 2012 City has an improved ground clearance of 165 mm and is available in two new colours – Pearl Red and Brown Metallic. The City E is dearer by Rs. 20,000/- while other variants have seen a price reduction between Rs. 5000-10,000/-.

“Honda City is one of the most successful car brands in the country and certainly the most desirable sedan in its category. Honda City has 11th time achieved No.1 Rank in JD Power Initial Quality Survey in the mid size segment which is a record in itself. It is our constant endeavor to study customers’ emerging demand and introduce features that enhances the overall ownership experience. I am confident that the new range will appeal to our customers even more and will be the most admired offering in its category,” Mr. Seki Inaba, Director (Marketing), Honda India said.

2012 Honda City Facelift Prices (ex-showroom, New Delhi)

City Corporate Edition – Rs. 6.99 lakh
City E – Rs. 7.70 lakh
City S – Rs. 8.20 lakh
City V MT – Rs. 8.70 lakh
City V AT – Rs. 9.42 lakh
City V MT (sunroof and leather seats) – Rs. 9.50 lakh
City V AT (sunroof and leather seats) – Rs. 10.22 lakh

Honda has officially confirmed the launch of the new City facelift for the 14th of December 2011. The City facelift is a mid-life minor change to the car, incorporating minor changes to keep the flagship Honda sedan looking fresh. The facelifted City will now feature LED tail lights, new bumpers, new grille, new alloy wheels and a new instrument cluster. The interiors will get slight revisions and the City will now have eco meter, which tells you if your driving in economy mode or not (a light foot on the accelerator yields higher fuel efficiency). Honda is said to have increased localisation on the 2012 City, so can we expect a slight price revision? Meanwhile those looking for a bargain can opt for the current City as dealers are offering mouth watering discounts to clear inventory.

Honda plans to clear inventory of the current City as the launch of the new model approaches. The Japanese automaker will be launching a slightly upgraded version of their flagship car next month and plans to remove the current inventory by offering discounts on the car. Honda plans to offer the outgoing model of the City for a discount between Rs. 70,000 – 1,00,000/- to clear stocks of the car. This is not the first time Honda has offered such big discounts on a model which they will soon discontinue. They did the same with the Jazz, offering the supermini for Rs. 1.5 lakh less the retail price.

This discount on the City comes at the right time as car sales have been falling rapidly. The increase in interest rates and petrol price are not helping either. Don’t expect Honda to announce any official discount on the City as the clearance will be done at dealer level. Even though Honda will be launching a new model of the City soon, if your looking to buy the City, this is a very good chance to get a bargain. The City facelift will not feature any mechanical changes and will use the same 1.5-liter, i-VTEC motor producing 118 PS of peak power and 146 Nm of peak torque. Performance from this gem of an engine is by far the best in the segment.

The Honda City facelift was all set to arrive in October, 2011 but was post-poned to shortage of components at the company’s Thailand facility. Honda procures alot of components from Thailand but due to the floods in the country, they had to postpone the launch of their flagship model to January. The Japanese automaker has now advanced the launch of the Honda City facelift to mid-December. The facelifted City which was launched in Thailand in September, will have increased localisation in India. This will help Honda maintain the current prices and on the same time offer more features on the car. The Honda City is powered by a 1.5-liter, i-VTEC powerplant which produces 118 PS of power and 146 Nm of torque and the new model will have no changes to the engine.

The Honda City facelift will feature a slight change to the exteriors and interiors, which can be classified as strictly minuscule. The City is all set to get more features such as leather seats and a sunroof on the V variant. This mid-life minor change to the model is to keep the City looking fresh as Honda continues to work on the next-generation City, which will debut in 2013. The next-gen City will feature a diesel engine, which will help the Japanese automaker to compete in the increasingly competitive C-segment. Consumers in India are having an increased preference for diesel cars and Honda’s sales have been affected drastically, owing to its all petrol product line-up.

Honda was all set to launch the facelift of the City in November, but the company has now delayed the launch due to the floods which took place in Thailand recently. Honda India sources lots of vital components and parts for its vehicles from Honda Thailand. In a press release issues yesterday, Honda has said that production at their Thailand facility has been shut since October 8th and the company is trying to counter react by sourcing some components from Japan. Just recently Honda halted bookings of the Jazz in India, as the company was facing serious production constraints due to the lack of parts supply from Thailand.

The car market has seen a slight decline in recent months, owing to the unfavourable RBI policy. Now with demand shifting towards diesel cars and Honda not being able to meet demand, the situation for the Japanese automaker is not the best yet. The City Facelift will in all likely hood see a 2012 unveil, probably at the Auto Expo and will be launched subsequently. Featuring slight cosmetic upgrades along with new features, the upgraded City will be a stop-gap method till an all new model comes along in 2013. The next generation City will feature a diesel engine as well, which will spell trouble for the competition.

Honda will be refreshing its best selling model, the City this festive season. The car has already been spied but as Honda launches its vehicles first in Thailand, the brochure of the car is already out. The 2012 City Facelift has very minute changes to the exteriors, with the revised grille, bumpers and tail lights. The alloy wheels are all new as well but the interiors remain largely unchanged. The engine will remain unchanged and the new City will be powered by the same 1500 cc, i-VTEC motor which produces 118 PS of power at 6600 RPM and 146 Nm of torque at 4800 RPM.

What remains to be seen is if Honda will offer more equipment in the City facelift. Honda is rumored to offer sunroof and leather seats in the upgraded City. The Honda City even without a diesel motor is the number one seller in its segment. Since 1998, when the first City was launched in India, the car has dominated the segment and once the diesel motor arrives in 2013, the City will continue its dominance. Hopefully Honda won’t hike the prices of the City, which has attracted buyers post the massive price cut.

Update (22/09/2011) – Live images of the 2012 Honda City facelift added. Thanks AMX for the tip!

Pictures Source – Autoincar and Dapurpacu

Honda will launch a facelift of the City next month and the car has been spotted undergoing tests. The facelifted City will feature re-profiled front and rear bumpers, new grille with chrome edges, new side view mirrors, new tail lights and new alloy wheels. The top end V variant of the City might even get a sunroof. The interiors too have been upgraded but details on the changes are sketchy at the moment. There is no change in the powertrain and the 2012 City will continue to be powered by the fantastic 1.5-liter, i-VTEC engine that produces 116 BHP of power. Last month the City outsold all its rivals and the faclifted City will only help this C-segment sedans cause further.

Source – Autocar India

Honda is carrying out a preventive part replacement of power window switch in 72,115 units of the second Generation City. The said vehicles are manufactured between 2005 to 2007 and the company had already done a proactive part replacement exercise in January, 2010 for 8532 units of 2nd Generation City, manufactured in 2007. Although no incident has been reported in India, Honda India is extending the same exercise to the previously sold Honda City. Honda India is carrying out the part replacement as part of a global exercise by Honda Motor Company. The replacement would be carried out free of cost and the owners will be contacted by the dealers. The third Generation City (the current City on sales) is not affected by the recall. The global recall of the Honda Jazz and Honda CR-V don’t affect the models sold in India.

A few months ago, the sales of the Honda City had reached an all time low. However, the company was quick to pull back with a massive price revision and has done so in a grand manner. The Volkswagen Vento was challenging the City by outrunning it’s sales a couple of times. The increasing demand for diesel cars gave the Vento a advantage, with the City being available only in petrol version. However, in the month of August 2011, the City has trumped the Vento by a massive 93%. Honda managed to sell 5819 units of the City last month, while Volkswagen could only manage 3019 units.

Volkswagen blames the poor sales to the increase in interest rates and fuel prices. However such parameters will affect both the Vento and City. More so, the increase in fuel prices affects petrol cars more than diesel cars. We feel Volkswagen should launch an upgrade of the Vento soon. The Vento lacks in many areas compared to the competition, which has now intensified. The launch of the new Ford Fiesta and Fluidic Hyundai Verna have certainly impacted the sales of the Vento.

The Honda City seems to have recovered in sales post the price cut by the company. The City was the second highest seller in the segment (selling 4092 units aginst the Verna’s 4724 units). The Fluidic Hyundai Verna is available in both petrol and diesel versions with a wide range of variants, offering a variety of options to the buyers. The Honda City has managed to sell very good numbers in July, considering it is available only with a petrol engine. Now Honda plans to launch a facelifted version of the City in October this year. The Japanese automaker has all of a sudden become very aggressive about its plans for India. For instance, the company will launch the Jazz facelift this month, the Brio next month and the City facelift the month after that.

The Honda City facelift will feature slight changes to both the interiors and exteriors with the addition of new features. The new features will help the City rival the increasing onslaught from other automakers such as Volkswagen and Ford. These features will help Honda mask the lack of diesel option in the City, till a diesel variant comes along in 2013. The company is said to be developing a diesel engine for the City, which is also expected to power the Jazz and the upcoming Brio small car. A price hike is ruled out with the facelifted City, as every car in the segment offers a diesel option, making competition tough for the one time segment leader.