‘One man’ s trash is another man’s treasure’, as the saying goes, one country’s obsolete model is Atlas’ gold. Behold yourself as you are un-blessed with the 6th generation City from 2014. In this article we will see if Honda has really drop the gauntlet against Toyota or they are digging out their own grave.
Price: Dangerously close to Toyota Corolla 1.6 Altis automatic
The price of top of the line Honda City Aspire 1.5L CVT starts at PKR 31.74 lac while by adding just 75k more you can step up to Toyota Corolla Altis 1.6 which is not only bigger and comes with a better image, road presence and foot print, but also Corolla is always placed a league above Honda City. Going for Corolla Altis means you get better hp, better torque, better space as well as better/bigger/wider tires. Only two major differences are rear ac vents and digital climate control that’s present in the City Aspire.
On the other hand its biggest competitor is Toyota Yaris Ativ-X 1.5L which is a whopping Rs 2.75 lac cheaper than City Aspire. Yaris comes with hill start assist control and 2 main safety features VSC (vehicle stability control) and TC (traction control) which are missing in our un-blessed Honda City. While City offers retractable mirrors, rear ac vents, cruise control but with a generation old shape, is it worth a price tag of Rs 275,000 more??
6th gen Honda City Prices:
| 1.2L MT | PKR 2,599,000 |
| 1.2L CVT | PKR 2,799,000 |
| 1.5L CVT | PKR 2,899,000 |
| 1.5L Aspire MT | PKR 3,019,000 |
| 1.5L Aspire CVT | PKR 3,174,000 |
Toyota Yaris Prices:
| YARIS 1.3L GLI MT | PKR 2,409,000 |
| YARIS 1.3L GLI CVT | PKR 2,589,000 |
| YARIS 1.3L ATIV MT | PKR 2,519,000 |
| YARIS 1.3L ATIV CVT | PKR 2,669,000 |
| YARIS 1.5L ATIV X MT | PKR 2,719,000 |
| YARIS 1.5L ATIV X CVT | PKR 2,899,000 |
Safety:
Honda City comes with dual airbags, immobilizer, ABS and EBD while its immediate competition namely Toyota Yaris has VSC and TC as well, so Yaris definitely takes the lead in the safety forefront.
Generation:
The 6th gen City is a generation old from 2014 & was phased out in 2020 after the unveiling of 7th gen model in November 2019. Whereas Toyota Yaris is current generation worldwide, although we have the pre-facelift version here whereas the facelift was introduced last year. Still being a current generation model, Yaris has got an edge over City.
Exterior:
Its a very subjective matter but in this case, neither Yaris is pretty nor the City is lovely. Yaris comes with LED tail lights which are missing in the locally offered 6th gen City. Both offer fog lights in higher trims which are optional in basic versions.
Interior:
The interior design is definitely a subjective matter but to me, City’s interior does actually feel a generation older. The materials used in both Yaris and City are almost of the same cheap hard plastic. Soft padded materials cannot be found anywhere at all.
Delivery:
One of the biggest advantage Yaris has is that its being delivered immediately (within 30 days of booking) while City has a delivery period of 6-8 months enticing for active own mafia.
Conclusion :
Honda has disappointed 3rd time with the City. Firstly they continued the same 5th generation model for more than 12 years, secondly the introduction of 6th generation rather than 7th gen was a setback, thirdly non competitive prices has been utterly disappointing.
Related: 6th Gen Honda City- Yet Another Globally Retired Car Arrives in Pakistan
If I would have to choose a car for a budget of PKR 3.2 million, I would definitely go for Toyota Corolla Altis or for a budget of PKR 2.5m I would pick base Yaris for 2 lac less than the base Honda City. Also another fear creep into my mind is the price increase leverage that Toyota now has for Yaris, they can increase up to Rs 2 lacs at free will to get to the price of City.
All in all the (not so) new City might do well for few months but when the bubble bursts, it will be a miss rather than a hit. The reason for writing this article was not to compare point to point or go into tiny details of comparison but to give readers and buyers a different perspective of how Honda is looting us by offering us the old packed in gold.
contributed by: Muhammad Arsalan Naim
An avid car enthusiast from Karachi with a keen eye on local auto industry
6th gen Honda City Aspire in Pakistan
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