The 2012 Honda City is now on sale in Australia, bringing revised styling, new features and a $500 price reduction to the light sedan range.
The base model VTi now starts at $18, 490 before on-road costs or $19, 990 driveaway. The five-speed automatic option adds $2000 to the price, while the top-spec VTi-L auto is now $22, 990 before on-roads. The VTi-L manual has been deleted from the line-up.
Both 2012 Honda City variants get a new chrome grille, redesigned front and rear bumpers and revised taillights. The VTi benefits from a new rear antenna while the VTi-L gets fresh 16-inch alloy wheels and a master door lock switch on the driver’s side.
The interior scores new aluminium trim highlights, new seat fabrics and blue dashboard illumination, and the VTi-L adds chrome inserts and blue stitching. Honda says thicker window glass and carpets have led to improved cabin quietness.
The new Sparkling Brown Metallic paint option joins black, white, silver, grey and red in the City’s colour palette.
There is no change to the City’s 88kW/145Nm 1. 5-litre petrol engine, which uses 6. 3 litres of fuel per 100km when teamed with the manual transmission and 6. 6L/100km with the auto.
Sales of the Honda City were brought close to a standstill across Australia in the first quarter of this year because of supply constraints stemming from last year’s Thailand floods. Just 66 vehicles were delivered across the three-month period, down from 603 in the first quarter of 2011.
