Honda City leaves Hyundai Verna & Maruti Ciaz behind this January in sales

Among the oldest and most popular car in its segment, the Honda City has once again proved its mettle after more than 20 years of its launch. The car has clenched the best selling title of its segment in the month of January, leaving behind the like of the Hyundai Verna and the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. To be precise, Honda sold a total of 4,855 units of the C-segment last month. The car was followed to the podium by the Hyundai Verna at second place and the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz at the third place.

As for the numbers, Hyundai sold 3,216 units of the Verna in the same time period while Maruti Suzuki sold even less 2,934 units of the Ciaz in January. Honda gained a lead of more than 1,500 units from the second place holder. The interesting thing here, though, is the fact that the past best seller of this segment came third this time around.

That is right, Maruti Suzuki was holding the best selling position for long in this segment with the Ciaz with Honda and Hyundai playing second fiddle. This time around though, the drop in sales pushes the Ciaz to third. There’s a likely reason for this. Maruti is readying up a new diesel engine for the Ciaz, which will be launched in the net few weeks. The new diesel engined variants of the Ciaz is expected to be the cause behind the drop in dispatches.

Talking about the Honda City, it is a pretty well equipped car with nicely appointed interiors. Features and kit include six airbags, electric sunroof with one-touch open/close function, touchscreen infotainment system, auto headlights, rain sensing wipers and diamond-cut 16-inch alloy wheels. The interiors have a typical light beige theme while the seats come with leather upholstery. The multi-function steering wheel is good to hold and also inspires confidence while driving.

In its 4th generation now, the Honda City gets powered by both petrol and diesel engine options. The 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol, engine churns out 117 Bhp of power along with 145 Nm of torque. The diesel unit, on the other hand is a 1.5 litre unit that churns out 99 Bhp of power along with 200 Nm of torque. Apart from the new new slick-shifting 5-speed manual introduced on the petrol, it also gets a CVT transmission option. The diesel though only makes do with the 5 speed manual gearbox. The diesel engine offers an impressive ARAI certified fuel efficiency score of 25.6 km/l while the petrol engine has a score of 16 km/l.

Honda has plans to launch the all new 5th generation Honda City in India by 2020. The sedan will be a bit larger than the outgoing model and will come with a host of features not present on the current generation car. It will be powered by a 1.5 litre engine with mild hybrid technology. A 1.5 litre diesel will also be used in the car. 2020 will also see the launch of the new Hyundai Verna and therefore, it will be good to see which one takes the crown in the end.