HONDA Malaysia introduced late last year a brand new Honda City sedan to Malaysians at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. This new sedan introduction was planned much earlier and Honda management were worried that middle class Malaysians would be less interested with a brand new City at the time. Well, they were glad that this did not happen.
Bookings soared after its launch to 9,000 orders in November 2020 and by the time this review was published, some 15,500 plus bookings are in and Honda Malaysia have delivered more than 11,000 units of the new local assembled Honda City to happy Malaysians.
Why do we say happy? Well, its nearest ‘price’ rival is the Proton X50 crossover and despite being launched earlier in October 2020 and being locally assembled, Proton have only managed to deliver 8,000 plus units whilst taking in more than 35,000 bookings.
Change in taste
Well, in the past few years we have seen a year on year reduction in the demand for sedans in Malaysia (and most of the world) as crossovers and SUVs get more attention from buyers.
Honda has seen massive success with the HR-V crossover since its arrival in February 2015 and Mazda followed in December the same year with their CX-3 crossover. Both these crossovers took away sales from the sedan segment.
Now, with this all new 2020 model City, Honda has re-ignited interest in the sedan segment and this is good news.
Features provided
This version of the Honda City, the ‘V Variant’ comes with Auto LED headlights, LED front fog lights, 16” alloy wheels, leather upholstery (black with Ivory highlights), Honda LaneWatch and 6 airbags.
Driving around the city
This 5th Generation City is now longer by 111mm, wider by 54mm and lowered by 10mm compared to the 4th Generation City. So, it is a more spacious sedan.
From ignition you will notice a refined engine with only a whisper coming from the front. Sound insulation is good and once you start moving along the engine bay returns a murmur to the cabin. Its power delivery is smooth and progressively quick when you put down the accelerator. Gear-shifts are smooth and without any hesitation as you work this City hard on the open highway. A 110km/h top speed is reached quite swiftly and there is little hesitation if you want to break the law and reach 170km/h.
The new front seats offer great head and neck support and the seats are wide to cater for varied torso sizes. So, regular nasi kandar eaters will fit nicely. Rear passengers get very good legroom and there is even decent shoulder room for 3 average sized. As with previous versions of the City, climate control is good and Honda has packaged this sedan to take some abuse over the years with heavy inner city commuting, especially with our loosely managed roads and side streets.
Decision time
We have to say that Honda has delivered a class act family sedan with an impressive list of cabin comfort features. There is very little to fault this new City from the showroom and after a test drive yourself you will understand what we are saying. The only issue is the large number of competitors currently in this segment.
Yes, the latest Almera is gaining popularity whilst the Vios and Mazda2 remain popular. Then there is the Proton X50 which takes a lion’s share of the sales numbers for this segment. So which takes your fancy is best decided after a test drive. – The Vibes, March 15, 2021
Honda City 1.5L VTEC ‘V’ Model Specifications
Engine: 4-cylinder DOHC i_VTEC
Displacement: 1498cc
Transmission: Continuous Variable Transmission
Max Power: 121PS @ 6600rpm
Max Torque: 145Nm @ 4300rpm
0-100km/h: 10.2 seconds
Top Speed: 196km/h
Price: RM86,561.45
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