New Honda City

Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., leading manufacturer of premium cars in India, launched the new Honda City with striking new looks and value added features.The New Honda City juxtaposes Honda’s superior design and enhanced premium styling. On the exterior, the new chrome front grille, restyled front and rear bumper and all new taillights accentuate the looks of the car. The newly designed and attractive 10 spoke Alloy Wheels (in select grades) add to its sporty look.

The New Honda City now comes with enhanced ground clearance of 165 mm, 5mm more than its predecessor giving it an extra bit of comfort on bumpy roads. The length of the new City is 4440 mm (20 mm longer than its predecessor).The complete range of the City has been expanded to give more options to the customers and will now be available in 5 variants – Corporate, E, S, V MT/AT and V (Sunroof) MT/AT.

The company has also added new colors in the line-up of the new City apart from existing offering. It will now be offered in Carnelian Red Pearl and Sparkling Brown Metallic which have been first time introduced in the Honda line-up. The existing colour range includes - Taffeta White, Alabaster Silver Metallic, Bold Beige Metallic and Urban Titanium Metallic.

The interiors of the New Honda City incorporate an elegant and attractive design. The plush Beige interiors with high quality seat fabric and improved modern Centre Control Panel with stylish Chrome fittings gives the car an upmarket feel. The New Honda City sports a soft lit Blue Meter Graphic which lends even more premiumness to the car.

The Honda City comes equipped with a 1.5L, 4 cylinder new generation i-VTEC engine that delivers a good balance of 118PS power along with excellent fuel economy of 16.8 km/l (Test results as per Rule 115 of CMVR). In line with the Honda’s policy of reducing impact on the environment the engine is E10 compliant and has Euro IV emission levels.

The newly introduced V (Sunroof) grade of the New City now comes with a sunroof which has been introduced in this segment for the first time and adds to the premiumness of the car even more.The introduction of new features like Cruise Control System and Turn indicators on ORVM in New City 1.5V and V (Sunroof) complement the look of the car and make it plush with a luxurious feel.

The City 1.5E will now be offered with Beige interiors and addition of Integrated Advanced Audio System while City 1.5S will have added value in form of Alloy Wheels.The Corporate grade of the City comes with all new Black interiors and will appeal to customers who are looking for affordability in a premium sedan.

The Safety of passengers and pedestrians is a first priority for Honda. Honda City is fully loaded with various active and passive safety features as standard including ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) with Brake Assist (BA), Dual SRS airbags, pre-tensioner seat belts and G-CON (G-Force Control Technology) body with a high integrity survival zone. The front body structure of the Honda City ensures advanced pedestrian safety features.

The 3rd Generation Honda City has been the winner of numerous Auto Awards including the most prestigious ‘Indian Car of the Year 2009’ (ICOTY) Award. Its instant success is testified by the fact that it has sold nearly 1.36 lakh units since its launch in September 2008 and cumulatively 3.76 lakhs units since its first launch in India in 1998.

Bookings for the New City has already started at all Honda dealers nationwide and deliveries will begin only from January 2012.

Prices ex showroom Delhi:

1.5 Corporate (MT) : Rs. 6.99 Lacs
1.5 E (MT) : Rs. 7.70 Lacs
1.5 S (MT) : Rs. 8.20 Lacs
1.5 V (MT): Rs. 8.70 Lacs
1.5 V (AT) : Rs. 9.42 Lacs
1.5 V (MT) Sunroof: Rs. 9.50 lacs
1.5 V (AT) Sunroof : Rs. 10.22 Lacs

Source : Honda City

Honda Jazz : An excellent car with good looks

All you can see one more car runs on Indian roads and you may be a part of it. Yeah! I am talking about "Honda Jazz". The fresh masterpiece in the 4 Wheeler segment has finally introduced by the Honda Company as a small car with a view of making it big in small car segment in India. The small car segment has been the most competitive segment, especially in India where customers in significant numbers look for a small car at minimum budget range. So, it is quite understandable that Honda has come up with a small car in order to tap this market. At the same time, the Company has wanted to maintain its reputation by positioning the car in the luxury range, so that it makes a big impression like that of its most successful cars Honda City and Civic.

With the first look at the Jazz, we can be assured that it makes a good impression on road. I can also not help but feel that if the same model was introduced earlier than i20, it would certainly have made the best impression. Once I enter the car, the interior comfort gives a sense of getting into a luxury car. The seats are comfortable with cushioning and spacious legroom, and they justify the statement of "One life, why so serious?".

The power of 90PS with 1.2L Ivtech engine justifies and boosts confidence in the Honda cars. With the track record of the successful Honda New City, definitely we need not worry about performance. At the same time, the Features of the base model are a setback, as it comes without climate control, alloy wheels etc. Indeed, the test drive I took was very impressive and the car's acceleration, handling and breaking all proved good.

It could have certainly made a big success with the same price if launched earlier than the Fabia and i20, but now its seems to be too late. With the earlier rumours that Honda might have priced the the car around 4.5 Lac, many customers would have planned to switch over to Honda for hatchback but now the option goes back to Swift, Indica Vista, and if budget is little higher then i20 and only at the end, consider New Honda Jazz.

When I looked at this car I never stop my feelings and just say it is an excellent car with good looks, but simply too, too expensive.

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