Ever since its launch in 2014, the new generation of the Honda City has had the distinction of being the undisputed champion of the sedan segment. In fact it was the first time in 2014 that the City managed to topple the then segment leader, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and celebrations were in order for the company. But after two years of topping the charts, the sales of the City have started falling and it was in July 2016, that the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz took the top spot.
The Ciaz sold more than 6592 units in July 2016 as compared to 5778 units of the City. Since then the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz has sold an average of 6000 units per month till November 2016 while the sales of the city have seen a slump going from 4810 units in August 2016 to 2045 in November and further down to 720 units in December last year. While the December figures might appear to be drastically low, a big reason for this was demonetisation and in fact the entire automotive industry was hurt by it.
However, it cannot be denied that the sales are dropping significantly and this is a good enough reason for Honda to bring out the facelift version of the sedan. While the sedan segment has been overshadowed by compact SUVs in the past couple of years, there is no denying that the City still (in its fourth generation in India) remains an absolute favourite among customers.
The facelift to the City comes after 3 years of the launch of the new-gen car
With the 2017 Honda City facelift, the Japanese car maker plans to take over the lead from the Ciaz again and yes that is the plan. We've already told you all there is to know about the car and this includes the launch date. In fact we have even shown you images of the car which was spied in a dealership yard. It's only now that Honda officially teased the 2017 City and yes it's quite the looker. There are a few changes made to the front of the car and now we'll see it come with LED DRLs.
The bookings for the car have already started and deliveries might commence immediately after launch. It comes with a reworked front that gets a tweaked grille with a honeycomb mesh. From what we can make of the images that the company has teased, it gets a reworked headlamp cluster as well along with new round foglamps, bigger air intakes on the bumper and a slimmer chrome bar. It also sees a new design for the alloy wheels and all this make it look up market and of course premium.
The 2017 Honda City gets a 17.7 inch touchscreen infotainment system
There are no changes to the engine line-up and it will be available with the 1.5 litre petrol and 1.5 litre diesel engines putting out the same power as before. What we will see however, is a huge dose of features and the list will run long. There'll be a sunroof, a new infotainment system and six airbags on offer.
It will all depend on how much the 2017 City will cost. Going by what we've seen, Honda will make every effort to price it aggressively. We expect that there will be an introductory price which will undercut the Ciaz by a decent margin, so that even the top-of-the-line fully loaded car will be quite a tantalising offer. While the City holds the upper hand now, Maruti Suzuki is already prepping an update for the Ciaz and from what we know, it'll be launched in India this year. What is also interesting is that it won't be a two-way fight. Hyundai too is prepping the new-gen Verna for an Indian launch soon which will come before the updated Ciaz is launched. Hyundai hasn't really been in the game for some time now, but it doesn't want to stay out of it. All we can say is, let the games begin!
