Current Honda City to dump diesel engine: To go petrol-only

Honda Cars India has now confirmed that they will be dumping diesel engines in their current generation City sedan. Honda earlier had confirmed that they will not be discontinuing the current generation City, which will sell alongside the all-new model.  This initiative has been taken in order to widen the sedan portfolio for Japanese manufacturer. Honda has also confirmed that unlike the BS4 version, the BS6 version of the current generation Honda City will only be getting a petrol engine. The diesel engine will be dumped. A similar trend is visible in the upcoming BS6 compliant Honda Jazz and their flagship SUV Honda CR-V, which have both dumped diesel engines to go petrol-only.

 

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Current-gen Honda City BS6 will be powered by the same i-VTEC petrol engine but is likely to placed below the fifth generation when it comes to pricing. By making the current gen City a petrol only vehicle, Honda can price it competitively as making a diesel engine BS6 compliant is more expensive. The upcoming all-new, 2020 Honda City however will get both petrol and diesel engine options. Internationally,  a1.0 litre-3 cylinder turbocharged petrol engine is also available with the new car but that is unlikely to be launched in India.

There is a possibility that the new-gen City will be getting a new 1.5 litre DOHC petrol engine that will generate slightly more power than the current petrol engine. The new engine is expected to generate 121 Bhp and 150 Nm of torque, which is 2 Bhp and 5 Nm torque more than the current gen. The 1.5 litre diesel engine will generate 99 Bhp and 200 Nm of peak torque. The petrol engine in the new City will get a manual as well as CVT gearbox option. There is a possibility that the diesel vesion might also get a CVT gearbox along with a manual one. The new-gen Honda City is completely different from the current generation and is longer and wider than the current version and offers more space on the inside. It is also a fairly feature loaded car and is expected to be launched in the market soon.

Honda had plans to launch the fifth generation Honda City in the Indian market earlier this year but due to the ongoing pandemic situation in the country, the launch has been postponed. Honda will be launching the all-new City once the situations improve. The Honda City has been one of the popular mid-size sedan in the segment. It competes with cars like Maruti Ciaz and Hyundai Verna. Honda has already launched the all-new City sedan in Thailand and many have even started modifying it.

Via Carandbike

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