Live: 2014 New Honda City launch

Edit: 2014 new Honda City launched in India for Rs 7.42 lakh

We are at the Taj Palace - Delhi, where Honda will launch its all-new fourth generation City sedan today. The next-gen C-Segment sedan has grown bigger, feels more upmarket and even has a couple of segment-first features, but the most important update is that it finally gets a diesel engine.

The petrol version of the City will continue to derive power from the 1.5-litre i-VTEC that now develops 116bhp and 146Nm of torque. It will be available with two transmissions – a five-speed manual or a CVT automatic. The diesel Honda City, on the other hand, uses the new 1.5-litre i-DTEC engine mated to a six-speed manual, delivering 98bhp and 200Nm to the front wheels.

We drove the new Honda City last month and are mighty impressed with the overall package – check our first drive report and video for exact details. The launch ceremony will begin in a few hours time and we are waiting for Honda to announce prices and variant details.

Live updates from Taj Palace, New Delhi

First image from the location : The event will start in a few minutes.

We have a full house at the event - waiting to find out if Honda will introduce the new City with shock pricing. And we start with a Honda commercial.

Host for the day Aishwarya Singh is on stage - Honda says the City will set new benchmarks for the industry. He is the President & CEO of Honda Motor India.

Yoshiyuki Matsumoto San is on stage to deliver the welcome note.

The first City was launched in Thailand in 1996 and is now sold in 55 countries across the world. The new City will now be sold in 60 countries.

The new City is part of Honda's new compact series and is expected to contribute around 1.5 million to Honda's sales. The new Honda City is the most efficient petrol automatic in the segment. Honda says the main characteristic of the City is that it has compact exteriors yet very spacious interiors.

Yoshiyuki San says of Honda's future plans," We will launch more products in the next two years to cater to the needs of Indian customers."

Hironori San, President & CEO, now on stage, says Honda City is their most important car for the Indian market.

The good news is that the deliveries of the Honda City diesel will start immediately, while the deliveries of the petrol version will start by mid-February.

In order to meet production demands Honda has increased the production by adding a third shift at their facility. They also aim to increase customer touch-points by adding dealerships in Tier II & Tier III cities.

Jnaneswar Sen, Sr. Vice President – Marketing & Sales, Honda Cars India Ltd is on stage. He is talking about the City's heritage.

Honda has sold 2.2 million units globally and 4.3 lakh units in India since its launch.

Honda intends to target both the young and the older age group with the New City. The target group being in their 20s-40s.

Honda City will be available in six colours - Golden Brown metallic, Tapetta White, Crystal Black Pearl, Urban Titanium Metallic, Alabastar Silver Metallic and Carnelian Red  Pearl.

We are getting the details of the i-DTEC engine again! It will be available with a six-speed manual gearbox.

The Honda City petrol with manual transmission has efficiency of 17.8kpl.

The body rigidity has increased by 24 per cent with new lightweight parts. The City gets McPherson struts at the front and H-shaped torsion beam at the back.

Honda has changed the under-body design to enhance the ground clearance, it is now 165mm. The safety features include SRS airbags and ABS-EBD.

We are being told about the features now: The car gets a 5-inch LCD with integrated music system, along with steering-mounted controls and a rear parking camera.

The instrument cluster will provide all the details to the driver and also help the driver in getting maximum efficiency with the 'Econ' light setting. The new City has a start-stop button and a touch screen AC panel.

The exterior features include - sunroof, Shark-fin antenna and foldable ORVMs with turn blinkers.

Honda City will be available in five variants - E, S, SV, V and VX for both petrol and diesel. The petrol automatic will be available in SV and VX variants.

We have almost all the details - now waiting for the price!

The theme of the new car is 'The Greater Drive' and we have another AV to show that.

We are now looking at the TV commercial of the all-new City. This will be aired from January 10.

Honda claims that the maintenance and running cost of the City will be lower than its competition.

And the prices are out !

The new Honda City starts at Rs 7.42 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Prices of Honda City petrol (ex-showroom Delhi)
E MT Rs 7.42 lakh
S MT Rs 8.04 lakh
SV MT Rs 8.49 lakh
V MT Rs 8.99 lakh
VX MT Rs 9.93 lakh
SV CVT AT Rs 9.49 lakh
VX CVT AT Rs 10.98 lakh

Honda City diesel variant prices (ex-showroom Delhi)
E MT Rs 8.62 lakh
S MT Rs 9.24 lakh
SV MT Rs 9.66 lakh
V MT Rs 10.16 lakh
VX MT Rs 11.10 lakh