In a bid to celebrate the 20 years of Honda City in Pakistan, Honda Atlas has introduced yet another set of cosmetic changes to the 9 year old City sedan.
Two decades ago Honda entered the 1.3L sedan segment with the launch of 3rd gen City SX8. Till 2009 Honda maintained their tradition of launching a new model or a true facelift every three years.
The City SX8 which was introduced in January 1997 was updated with a facelift in January 2000. 3 years later in August 2003 the new City iDSI was launched, and was updated with a facelift in 2006, again maintaining the 3 year cycle. While on 31st January 2009 the City iDSI was replaced with the new 5th generation City iVTEC.
Related: The ‘City’ That Never Arrived..
Since then however Honda lost its tradition to be pioneers in updating their models in Pakistan. The facelift City iVTEC that was supposed to launch in 2012 arrived in 2014 and continues to sell here despite in its 9th year of production in our country. The 5th gen City now has the longest production life for any locally assembled Honda model.
In a launch event held at Faletti’s Hotel, Lahore Honda unveiled a new iteration of the 5th gen City, labeled as a new model. People however were anticipating the 6th generation City to be introduced in the country, the same model which was launched globally back in 2013 and has already received a facelift earlier this year. This also affirms that the 5th generation is here to stay with us for a couple of years more.
Related: 2017 Honda City Facelift Launched in India, Priced from INR 8.5 Lac
The 5th gen City is now available with a new grille, new door protection moldings, integrated Clarion touch-screen tuner, new upholstery and an optional immobilizer. All that comes with a price increase of Rs. 10,000. The revised prices are:
- City 1.3L M/T PKR 1,533,000
- City 1.3L A/T PKR 1,674,000
- Aspire 1.3L M/T PKR 1,663,000
- Aspire 1.3L A/T PKR 1,805,000
- Aspire 1.5L M/T PKR 1,683,000
- Aspire 1.5L A/T PKR 1,825,000
Related: 12 Things Not Found in Pak Suzuki Ciaz
After the launch of Ciaz sedan by Suzuki, people were expecting that Honda might bring the new 6th generation to compete with the Suzuki rival, but since Suzuki has pushed the prices of Ciaz close to PKR 2.0 million, it doesn’t poses any threat to the 9 year old City which is already selling in handsome numbers. It’s obvious that Honda won’t bring a new generation City in Pakistan unless it faces some real competition and sales begin to suffer.
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
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