Honda City sedan celebrates 25 years in Indian markets

It is rare to find a car model that holds an esteemed place in the minds of consumers, especially one with bullet-proof engineering and reliability. Chandan B Mallik traces the meteoric rise of the marque.

-  Chandan B Mallik

It is no secret that in a price-conscious market like India, to establish impeccable credentials is no mean feat. It takes a lot of effort to do so. As Honda Cars India (HCIL) commemorates the silver jubilee of Honda City in India, the occasion is more than just a testimony to the dream that Honda's enigmatic founder Soichiro Honda had in mind.

Each generation of the City since inception in 1981 has had a story to tell. Very much like its global sibling, the Jazz, the City was developed as a benchmark small car, "with the intention of becoming the globally accepted standard for compact cars suited to this new era," without compromising its hallmark spaciousness and useability. And that adage is very visible in cars like the City which began life as a Kei car in Japan to a larger B+ segment model with curated role and responsibilities.

The first Honda City model introduced in India in 1998 was a sedan. The current model is in its fifth generation, also as a sedan (seventh generation if previous body styles are considered - see box below). Remarkably, it has stood the test of time and has remained the longest running mainstream model in Indian automotive history.

Ever since the model's introduction in Japan and later in other countries its image has also metamorphosed from a basic car to an aspirational model in a segment that only a handful of automakers have had success in.

India happens to be the largest and most important market for Honda City sedan, currently accounting for over 28 percent of the car's sales in Honda's Asia Oceania region (Jan-Aug 2022). In line with Honda's global vision to realise carbon neutrality and zero collision fatalities by 2050, HCIL launched the Honda City e:HEV in 2022, which marked the beginning of Honda's electrification journey in India.