The new Honda City Diesel is expected to be unveiled for the global markets at a function in Delhi tomorrow. The new car which has not been seen till now is expected to get a new design and will be offered with a new engine option. Globally it is expected to continue with a petrol engine and in Japan it will now become a hybrid much like the Jazz/Fit.
The design for the new Honda City is expected to be similar to the one that was seen on the new Jazz/Fit. This design philosophy is called 'Exciting H Design!!!' and is is expected to be found on all of Honda's new cars over the next few years. However, We expect that Honda will retain the overall design of the City from the current car in a bid to ensure it does not lose its existing cutomer base. while globally the City is expected to get the interiors from the Jazz/Fit, in India, Honda will retain may elements from the current car in a bid to keep costs down.
The bit we are most interested in is that this new car will be offered with a diesel engine and will be the second car from the Japanese automaker with an oil burner. The engine will be the 1.5-litre iDTEC diesel engine from the Amaze sedan and is expected to produce 98bhp and 200Nm of torque sending power to the front wheels via five-speed manual gearbox. The petrol on the other will be the 1.5-litre iVTEC mill that produces 116bhp and 146Nm of torque. Power is transmitted to the front wheels via a five-speed manual or five-speed AT box.
Reports suggest that Honda dealers have already begun taking bookings for the new car but deliveries are expected to happend close to the 2014 Auto Expo. Since we have never seen the car up untill this point it seems a little optimistic to predict prices but we believe that they will price the car in the range of Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 11.50 lakh for the top end diesel variant.
We will bring you all the details of the new Honda City Diesel as soon as they emerge, so tune into CarWale at 12:00pm tomorrow.