Honda will be launching a CNG version of the City in the last week of October/first week of November. The CNG powered City is Honda’s way of boosting and maintaining sales of the car till the diesel engine arrives next year. The Honda City CNG will be priced between Rs. 8.2 to Rs. 9.6 lakhs. It will have everything similar to the regular City but Honda might offer a higher warranty period on the car. A factory fitted CNG kit has many benefits, with peace of mind being the most important one.
The Honda City has been the leader in its segment for more than a decade, till it was toppled a few years back due to increasing diesel competition. Honda sold just 1843 units of the City last month, while Hyundai managed to sell around 5300 units of the fluidic Verna. Even the Nissan Sunny and Volkswagen Vento out sold the City. The lack of a diesel engine amidst increasing fuel prices has led to the City losing market share in the C-segment.
The Honda City is powered by a 1.5-litre, SOHC, i-VTEC petrol engine. This motor produces a decent 118 PS of power and 146 Nm of torque. Honda offers both manual and automatic transmission on the City, with the latter having steering mounted paddle shifts. The mileage of the manual City is 16.5 km/l, while the automatic variant returns 15.6 km/l (Honda claimed mileage figures). The CNG model will reduce running costs significantly, making the vehicle appeal to a larger section of buyers.
