Honda - The tale of 4 City's

Its been more than a decade, since Honda launched the City in India since then we have developed a unshakable liking for the City. The frst generation City was a drivers delight, with a 1.5 litre engine churning out 100BHP and a smaller 1.3 litre engine with 90 BHP's up its sleeve, it was fun to drive with a low slung seat and excellelnt handling. The city was way ahead of its time and was an instant hit in the Indian market, keeping in mind the brand value HONDA had even before it had hit the Indian Shores. Initiial response of the City was well received and the City became a best seller in its segement at that time comprising of the Opel Astra and the Mitsubishi Lancer.

HONDA was quick to upgrade the city and give the consumers more value for their money. The upgraded version of the city came with a new set of headlights & tail lights which added to the sporty appeal of the City. The changes were only cosmetic and the City

remained the same at heart, r

etaining the engine that had earned it the reputation that it had built. It was at this time that Honda decided to launch more options to the Indian customer and the city 1.5 vtec was launched, which was a sports version of the City coupled with alloy wheels, rear spoiler with integrated stop lamp. The interiors were give a silver carbon fibre treatment which was a refreshing change from the wooden finish interiors

that the City had been traditionally offering. he most important part of this model was the vtec engine(having gained a reputation worldwide for vtec technologies.) If the previous Honda was fun to dri

ve then the VTEC was for the speed devel in you without comprimising a lot on fu

el efficiency. Packed with these features the City continued to enjoy a strong market share and continued to impress customers in India which was reflectd in its winning the JD power asia pacific consumer satisfaction ratings 3 times in a row.

It was in 2005 when the Honda lauched a completely new version of the CITY, which was very different from its predessors. The new Honda city was based on the Honda Jazz/Fit platform and

had an odd ball styling that took some time getting used to. However, a deeper insight proved that Honda had been listening and they had come up with a car that was a delight for Indian Customers. The new City had top notch beige interiors

with just the right amount of wood in them. Chrome door handles on the inside, a powerful Alpine CD player and a neat instument cluster that made the City's interiors look a class above. The city now sported only 1 e

ngine option which was the i - DSI engine, 1.5 litre and 70 BHP. The new city lost

the sporty drivers car image that its predessors had. Honda had focussed on making this CITY a car that the Indian market wanted, so it was fuel efficient, had good interiors and a supremely comfortable rear seat - which was very important for the Indian market. With time Honda realized that there was a category of City owners that missed the VTEC engine and the power that it had, so Honda launched a 100BHP vtect engine in the city and at the same time made cosmetic changes to the City which was now called the City ZX. The City ZX had crystal clear headlights & Taillighs, alloy wheels, fog lighs and new grille. The vtec version got silver polished interiors insted

of the standard wood and a double din alpine music system. The City

was doing well and was the best seller in its segment. However, Honda had differnet plans.

2009 and the new City was launched. This car was a mix of the previous generations. It looked stunning with the new aeroshot design, which aimed to capture the power than an arrow has when its p

ulled by the archer, and the City perfectly lives up to this. However, Honda

compromised on the interiors of the new City and they seem a step down from the prevoius generation. Although the design of the interior is very good but the plastic quality used is not up to the m ark. There are a lot of cheap bits around the interior of the city and the car does not match up to the expectations that Honda had previously set. However, if you give the car a closer look, Honda has made sure that it does all the other things right. The car has a state

of the art music system that can play USB sticks and your ipod. It has steering mounted audio controls

taken from the Civic Hybrid and even the steering feels good to hold with just the right amount of thickness. The doors of the City are another great piece of design and they open at an angle of 90 degrees, making it easier to get in and out of the car. To top all of this the City has ditched the old CVT transmission and now has civic like 5 speed auto box with paddle shifters, which are a delight to use. The city seems stripped down when you compare it to its Thai brother. It has no alloy wheels or fog lights. No indicators in the side view mirrors and an extremely intielligent fetaure of a reclining rear seat available in other parts of the world.

Overall, the City has been a great car and continues to excite buyers across all age groups. This was my tale of 4 city's, and am looking forward to the launch of the new City 1.5 v which should be loaded with all the goodies that are missing in the current model.