Fresh Paint, New Cityscapes

The Honda City has had a good run in India over the last two decades, but with every passing year, the competition seems to be inching closer. Honda isn’t giving up this space easily though. With the new, fifth-generation City, the Japanese giant is fighting back harder than ever

- Somnath Chatterjee

The Honda City was an instant hit when it first made its debut in India back in the late 1990s. Sedan buyers in India, up until that time, simply hadn’t experienced the kind of slick engineering refinement and driving pleasure that Honda offered with the City. And while the first City came with a choice of 1.3-litre and 1.5-litre petrol engines (both of which were pretty good), Honda also introduced a 1.5-litre VTEC engine just two years down the line, and the City VTEC went on to become something of a cult classic. With their variable valve timing, Honda’s VTEC engines are rightfully revered for the high-revving thrills they provide, and even today, 20 years on, Honda enthusiasts still speak of the City VTEC in hushed tones. Gone, but never forgotten.

If the City VTEC of the early 2000s was a bit of a wild child, later iterations of the City went in a different direction. Sure, the refinement always remained, but Honda traded the first City’s sense of fun for more grown-up things like improved safety, better fuel economy, lower emissions, a bigger cabin, and more comfort. The hard-rocking frat boy exchanged the ratty pair of jeans and sneakers for a gray suit, and sensible shoes. From its second generation onwards, the City has been a car for bankers and dentists and lawyers, dutifully helping Honda fill its coffers.