Honda Malaysia Launches new Honda City
20 June 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Today is an auspicious day for Honda Malaysia, as it hails the unveiling of Honda’s face-lifted City, which is also its first CKD model from Honda Malaysia after the resumption of its factory production in April 2012.
The new City is expected to continue giving its owners years of driving pleasure, just as the current one has done – overall styling is the same save for some external features, and the power train is identical to the outgoing City model.
New external features are a re-designed front grille, front bumper, and rear bumper. The drive train, the mechanicals remain the same, while internal features include a new seat fabric design, a new ‘blue’ light for the meter illumination, plus an ‘ECO’ light that lights up when you are driving economically. As an added feature, the rear seats now have a 60/40 split that allows for bulky and long items to be stowed. The audio system is enhanced with USB and AUX connectivity.
Speaking at the launch ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Mr. Yoichiro Ueno, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Honda Malaysia said,” Since the launch of the first generation Honda City in 2001, this model has been well received by the market. As at April 2012, Honda Malaysia has sold 113,005 units. In fact, the Honda City is our best selling CKD model in Malaysia. With our production currently operating at full speed, we are pleased to announce that we have cleared the 3,000 Honda City back orders that we received during the production halt period.” (Editor’s note: Honda production at the Melaka plant was halted as a result of the shortage of supply of key components following the Tsunami in Japan and the floods in Thailand).
Available in 2 grade variants, ‘S’ and ‘E’ grades, the City is priced at RM85,980 and RM90,980 (OTR) respectively. The ‘S’ grade has a few less features, the most pronounced being equipped with 15-inch wheels instead of the 16-inch wheels for the ‘E’ grade. Interior features that only appear on the ‘E’ grade are a rear seat under tray, retracting wing mirrors, and VSA (Vehicle Stability Assist) Paddle shifters are available only on the ‘E’ grade as well, and the paddle shifters come with a leather-wrapped steering wheel. The rear armrest is also only available for the ‘E’ grade, as is two additional speakers for the audio system.
Mechanically, the City comes with the popular and well proven 1.5 litre 16-valve SOHC i-VTEC engine coupled to a 5-speed automatic transmission powering the front wheels. Suspension remains as Macpherson struts at the front and a torsion beam arrangement at the rear. The electric power steering (EPS) is retained. Kerb weight is 1140 kg for the ‘S’ grade, while the ‘E’ grade has another 20 kg added.
Performance-wise, the new City should be the same as the previous one, as the mechanicals are unchanged. However, the latest announcement by Mr. Ueno of a 5-year unlimited mileage warranty, plus six times free labour for service up to 100,000 kilometres for the new City should be a good incentive for buyers to select the new Honda City.
