Has Honda Given Toyota a Chance to Increase Yaris Prices?

Honda Atlas just launched the globally retired 6th generation City sedan in Pakistan after dragging the 5th generation model for over 12 years. The 6th gen was available in global markets between 2014 and 2020 and was replaced by the 7th generation model which debuted in Thailand back in November 2019.

Honda, which was once known as the pioneers to introduce latest vehicles in Pakistan was 7.3 years late to bring the 6th gen in our market, particularly in a time when 7th gen is about to get 2 years old and is available in almost every part of the world today. It was always expected that the 6th gen City (call it ‘new’ if you want to) will be priced higher than the decades old 5th gen model, which being one of the most under-equipped locally assembled vehicle in Pakistan was already selling for as high as PKR 28.59 lac with literally nothing to offer.

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Still many were expecting the prices to be competitive to Toyota Yaris, which is City’s closest rival and is currently the bestselling sedan in Pakistan. However much to our disappointment the price of City has been kept unrealistically higher than that of Yaris rendering a whopping Rs 275,000 difference if we compare the flagship variants of both the cars. Not to mention the 6th gen Honda City Aspire misses out on features such as Vehicle Stability Control, Traction Control and Hill-Start Assist which comes as standard in Yaris across the range.

6th gen Honda City Prices:

Toyota Yaris Prices:

Not only this, the Yaris is available for delivery within 30 days of booking while the delivery time of 6th gen City is from 6 to up to 8 months according to dealerships. The company claims to have garnered over 12,000 bookings by people or investors who were least interested to know its final price or features, or were too focused on making money by reselling it to potential buyers once the vehicle is launched.

Related: Toyota Yaris- Road to Success

This gives Yaris a clear advantage on City on almost everything from features, price as well as the delivery time. However, this unrealistic price difference has given Toyota a leverage to increase Yaris prices, as they can easily increase up to Rs 200,000 to get to the price of City. Why would they remain contended in pricing a car that’s selling like hot cakes, almost Rs 275,000 cheaper than its rival, especially when they can see the 12k booking figures.

The other new players such as the Changan Alsvin, despite being a much lucrative product considering the features & price difference remains of no threat to Toyota & Honda from sales perspective. Still its picking up slowly and will take a lot of time to be considered a threat to the aforementioned two. Proton Saga on the other hand is yet to come out of its eggshell.

Related: The Bubble Launch of Proton Saga

By pricing the 6th gen City close to PKR 3.2 million, Honda has actually raised the bar of sedan segment pricing in Pakistan. However with limited options available in the market, Honda City and Toyota Yaris will continue to dominate the sales due to their volume production. Its likely that the prices of B-segment sedans in Pakistan will see a surge with Yaris most likely in line to cash in the opportunity. And who knows Changan Alsvin and Proton Saga might also follow suit by announcing their price revisions to efficiently maintain the price gap with market leaders.

6th gen Honda City in Pakistan

UsmanAnsari

A computer animation professional with over 23 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations, TV channels & production facilities in Pakistan. An avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver quality content to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com