Honda City CVT Diesel launch in the works

Honda Cars India has just introduced the first affordable diesel CVT car in the form of the all-new 2018 Amaze compact sedan. Honda is ready to offer the same option on the Honda City sedan, but only if demand exists. What this means is, if the Honda Amaze Diesel CVT becomes a big success, there’s a good chance that such an option would be offered on the City as well. For now, there’s a CVT automatic gearbox offered on the petrol powered Honda City. The Hyundai Verna is the only C-Segment sedan in India that has a diesel-automatic variant. Equipping the City Diesel with a CVT Automatic will make the car more competitive against the Verna.

Rajesh Goel, SVP and director, Sales and Marketing, Honda Cars India Ltd, said,

If there is a strong demand, then we can look into it. We already have the technology and coming up with it (diesel CVT on City) should not be difficult.

Interestingly, Honda went with a lower state of tune for the 1.5 litre i-DTEC turbocharged diesel engine on the Amaze Diesel CVT. The diesel motor has been detuned to 80 Bhp-160 Nm on the CVT variants, even as it makes 98.6 Bhp and 200 Nm on the manual gearbox equipped variants. If launched in India in VX and ZX variants, the Honda City Diesel CVT is likely to cost about Rs. 15.5 lakhs and Rs. 16.5 lakhs, respectively, on-road Delhi. Paddle shifters are likely to be offered on the top-end City Diesel CVT. The City is also available with a petrol-MT option, which gets the 1.5 litre i-VTEC engine with 118 Bhp-145 Nm, and a 5 speed manual gearbox.

The Honda City, for long has been one of the best selling C-Segment sedans of India. Known for its high quality interiors, high levels of refinement and sophisticated looks, the City is a top pick in the C-Segment sedan class. The City brand is extremely strong, mainly for the above attributes, apart from high resale value, low maintenance levels and high reliability. The sedan is in its fourth generation in the Indian market, and in each iteration has become a much larger seller. In fact, the City is Honda’s best selling car, slightly ahead of the WR-V, a Jazz-based crossover.

Via Overdrive