Cloud Nine

In its 10th generation, Honda’s iconic brand is back with more flair, space and gizmos. A diesel engine too. Perfect, then?

- Girish Karkera

The Honda City has been the model that defines the Japanese brand, in India. Over years and generations, it has grown to be an icon and has made customers hardcore Honda loyalists. It has made customers want more. Unfortunately, that’s where the problem begins. It must be a frustrating time being a Honda salesperson, sitting on a massive base of City customers, many of whom are ready to upgrade and then watch them move to other brands simply because there is no Honda alternative on offer. The Accord (now Accord Hybrid) being at a different high, a sedan alliance with a customer for Honda usually ended with the City. Well, things are about to change. Again.

More than a decade ago, Honda brought in a brand that defines it globally just like the City defines it in India. The eighth-generation Civic was unlike anything we had seen in terms of lavish design and a cabin that looked like it was from the future (the large digital speedo was out of this world). Little wonder that it soon found a lot of takers. More for the manual version. It did come with a torque convertor AT but fuel efficiency was a big deal for most Indians. Even for those buying 12-lakh-rupee cars. Ironically, it was fuel efficiency that finally did the Civic in, as we realised how diesels were becoming increasingly refined and also returning better fuel figures than petrol-powered cars. Honda did not have a ready diesel at the time and it finally pulled the plug on the Civic, to focus on the sustained popularity of its existing petrol-powered cars and also showed a brief interest in smaller cars.

A lot has happened in the last eight-odd years and while the Civic segment remained one of the slowest growing, it also managed to climb up the hierarchy ladder. So, there was an opportunity to price it higher. Plus, the void it had left was being used by rivals so after ditching the ninth-gen car for India, the Civic returns as you read this.