The same car that we saw on test in India and was presumed to be the new Honda City has now been spotted in China. These photos from sohu show the same car finished in a nice white paint. Unlike the previous shots, we can now see the tail lamps in full glory.
What is this mysterious car? If it is truly the new Honda City it will definitely sell like hot cakes, it looks really good! It will have a winning formula of good looks, above average fuel economy, a price of under RM100k (under 70K is a dream but maybe possible with 1.3 manual?), and a Honda badge!
If you look closely at the ceiling of the interior through the windows, there is something that looks roughly like a sunroof, but oddly shaped as its not very clear. I could be mistaken. Can you see what I am seeing? The City may be an economical model to us but in countries like India where it is high-end, it is available with a sunroof.
The current generation Honda City one of the Honda cars available in China and have also been used as Chinese police cars in the past.
Look after the jump for more shots of the car.
Related Posts:
New Honda City spotted on test in India
Artist’s impression of the new Honda City
Photoshopped Honda City found on Thai forums
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
Man this is freaking good looking !!! It's gonna sell like hot cakes even the price is around RM80-90K.
Or just a blatant rip-off by an Chinese company again?
wow…
looks like honda civic..love the door handle..
anyone know when its gonna launch..?
Or just a blatant rip-off by a Chinese company again?
what is the 'Q' plat means?
What a beauty! With cues resembling the 3-Series at the rear and side profile of a Civic, I dont see why it wont sell like crazy, worldwide! With bodykits fitted, im sure the girls will faint, heck, the guys would too! *drooool*~~
this is good. somewhere i heard, top of the range got the lot – white headlights, kulit kusyen, pedal shifter, etc. etc.
definition a thumbs up for me.
OFF TOPIC ,
Paul, heard rumour that Saga price gone up by RM1500. Any thruth to it?
if you dont look at the details, and concentrate on the silhouette of the car, you'll notice that its almost exactly like the current model civic.
Wowwwwwwww……. nice design can't wait to trade-in my old city
nice car..yes paul..its a sunroof…
Even China's Vios got sunroof…. It's not strange if this one has sunroof.
oh no .. pls dont use "b-sting" antenna.
I want built in to the rear screen……
Chinese don't use their air-con at all even though their cities can be rather polluted. So sun-roof is no surprise there. In fact i get a kick out of sitting in the different types of taxis in China. Save for the old ones where they used Jetta and Citroen.
Anyway, it sure looks like a looker for the masses. thumbs up for me. The shape of the rear lamps does reminsce that of the current 3 series.
this car seriously looks good
Nice butt isnt it?? Honda people been "working out " so u got well shaped S unlike the butt lazy old saggy Vios butt. Never mind..its gonna kick Vios butt real good.
I spotted the same rims (design) of the present City Vtec. Pretty sure this is the new imporved generation City . Embrace for new innovations bro..they are always the 1st in everything.
honda always try to be the bmw of the east. just look at their accord designs through the years. sadly their handling is still not there… only hard and uncomfortable for the type r but are not able to combine for hard driving and comfort at the same time.
anyway, this car will be indeed 'honda, world best seller' for the honda motor company.
Nice car from Honda against the seterika City currently. It has the Ciciv 8th geneartion DNA, and look nicer also. Wait for the price. i hope it will be in the RM75k-RM85k really. give a pinch to the Vios and Altis altogether.
Honda may now have the weapon to take on the all mighty Vios.
Vios has killed City in terms of sales but with this car I dont think
it can do it anymore. So what makes this car better than outgoing model?
Well for a start it alot better that the model it replaces. Often city has lost out to the vios in looks department. Many people prefer the vios looks better.
Furthermore the triangle mirror has been ditch which gave a MPV/Sedan look
You either design a sedan or MPV dont try both at once Honda !!!!!!.
Also I heard they have also ditched the CVT gearbox which is known for
realibility issue. The 1.5 ivtec engine is also better compared to the 1.5 vtec.
So all in all I dont see a reason why this car cant beat Vios in sales.
Let the battle begin and this will teach vios not be complacent…. it is a win win for the consumers like us….
Even if Honda new City equivalent to everything Vios J has, easily competitive though it has RM10k premium over Toyota budget car. RM80k for base model is feasible though approaching RM100k will not justify as too close with Civic and unfavorable interest rate at +3%.
Paul, is there even a remote possibility that this might be a facelift model of Honda Civic? Civic was launched back in February/March 2006. Normally, a facelift model would come out approximately 2.5 years after its launch, and in the case of Civic, 2.5 years after it launch would be right about now.
Alas, I sure hope this model is the new Honda City and not the Honda Civic facelift, coz it would be cheaper. Can't wait for the unveiling of this new model.
The USDM Civic facelift has already been unveiled. But the thing is the Civic has a small MPV-like three quarter window in front. It may be too costly to remove that bit as part of a facelift exercise? It looks very very much like a Civic in overall bodyshape. Let's see lah.
The designer might be the same person who designed Civic, and perhaps he has a new partner working with him on this, who actually quit from BMW 3 Series design team.
Surely, it does look hot. Judging cars is almost the same as judging girls. Look at the girls' rear and fron 'bumpers' first.
there is some resemblence to the Pug 407 side profile especially the rear..
nebuchadnezzar said,
August 19, 2008 @ 2:21 pm
Alas, I sure hope this model is the new Honda City and not the Honda Civic facelift, coz it would be cheaper. Can’t wait for the unveiling of this new model.
__________________________________________________________________________
Bro, this is the All New Honda City…confirmed! Will be launched in Thailand within 3 weeks time. Coming to our shores in December or January..Spec may be different from other countries & regions but i heard its gonna be 2 variants same like New Jazz. I'll be in KLCC tomorow for the unveiling of New Jazz..anyone comin'? Sure Paul will be there.
look great at the rear, now fingers crossed as they reveal the front
Yup, could be the next City. A few things look familiar to a City owner – from the rims to certain curve here and there … a City trademark kind of thing.
I'll sell my EG and get this one if it's around RM80K
Q for "quit stealing foreign car ideas"
Definitely will be Vios killer
ya.. good looking car
but the side view (especially the rear door) looks similar to Gen 2
hope we will get the same City real soon..
go go Honda.
Honda, u r always "power of dreams"! haha…
I will be proud owning you than the toyota vios…..hopefully honda can also come out with interest rate as 2.88% or less, then Honda, you will b the best seller among Vios, City and Latio.
I hope Toyota will sell their Vios Junior at RM61k, otherwise many buyers will say bye bye hi hi to them….Buyers win
very very good…worth waiting after all these years… been saving real good for it
Looks very good. The sharp butt makes it look more sporty. Now a worthy little brother of the already good looking Civic!
to be frank, it looks brilliant. at least better than its predecessor. but to act professionally, i would judge on it when i know the exact power..
if the car priced at 80k, garenti local cars will be "tapau"…
If, that is….
I am new to your site…very good…I like it
The new city looks like it will be a vast improvement over the current model, which I had considered buying but didn't because it was too small and not stylish enough for me. Knowing Honda, there will probably be lots of technological improvements too. I was saving up to get an Altis instead (very beautiful I think), but it is considerably pricier. Now, I am considering City again because I think I will like this car when I actually see it (very soon here in Thailand) and the City is a great value for the money. One question somebody may know the answer to: Are leather seats available? The current Honda website does not mention leather, but I heard they can be obtained. Gotta have leather…love it! Thanks
Oh, one other question: There are comments on this site mentioning the resemblance to the Civic. Do you think the new City will have a longer wheelbase, perhaps using a new frame or the one used on the current Civic? As I mentioned, the current City is a bit small for a fatso like me and I am hoping the new one will be longer/roomier – it appears so from the photos. This would improve the ride as well.
I thought i saw Rear Disc brakes fitted on the "Soon to launch 2009 City"?
If it is priced at RM80K, still not going to sell much as the premium RM3K additional will make people from East Malaysia to go for other model. If it is price at RM72K + RM3K premium = RM75K then it will be another story.
i just bought my city 4 months ago……well if this is what the next generation city….woo ooh…..a dream design…..
Can't wait for this car to murder the dugong vios.
I hope next generation civic will take the design cue from City. More importantly lose the triangle window in front and also lose the MPV design dashboard. Looks very stupid….two tier meter futuristic ?????………pls……
I hope they go back to the drawing board. Civic is a nice car spoilt by over ambitious designs. Mark my word…. all this will be ditched in the next generation. If I wanted a MPV i would buy the real thing. I cant understand why do you want to by a car looks like an MPV minus the space. Might as well buy MPV. Anyway back to City….. Vios will have a hard time with the new City.
Paul, does this new Honda City share the same platform with the new Honda Jazz (coz previous City was sort of the sedan version of Jazz)? Or does it share the same platform with the existing Civic (or the new Honda Accord, if any)?
toyota will go bankrupt soon if they don't produce proper cars like honda, nissan. mazda and mitsuoka
is killing me 2 c a type r white city. another boy racer car if Honda provide a manual with 4 disc brakes. can threatening vios j with drum brakes in the rear. but honda tend 2 market it's car at high end image. so manual is the only option which can sell the car at lower price. now the question is whether honda 1 market shares or mid class image ,which is premium price?
I just the love the speed Honda is going. Civic design cues on City looks great! I want to know the specs more.
Hopefully HM can offer manual variant as well on top of AT. NOW, it's time to save few drops of gas like our brethren in India or even EU, they still have a lot of MT cars.
Do we richer than them? Or too lazy?
Looks good, and if it comes with CVT or even 5-speed auto it will be better than Vios. Too bad it will only comes next year; I've already bought a Vios this year.
if there is a price below 80k for the 1.3, I'm going to save up for the donw payment and buy the car next year.
Now issnt that a better move by launching 1.3L specs than , throwing price of the stripped unit like vios J-unk.
Hhhmm..to compete with budget segment , occupied by Vios J-unk is by launching 1.3L with startdard specs in City.
The new City surely made Proton Saga at least 10 years outdated.
Nice from side and back. Like Honda's cars, always hope they improve somemore on noise insulation so that my next car won't be a Toyota anymore which are overpriced in almost all thier models. By the way, in my personal opinion, the cars below 20k that is nice-looking all-round is Mazda 6, with good specs. Wish to buy one if I am convinced of their after-sale service/back-up service; second-hand value is not an issue to me.
the rear looks like a bmw 3 series
the civic design formula is a winning design. other car companies will and actually already follow the design ques like the sloping windscreen. the 2 tiered design integrates nicely with the sloping windscreen and has a wrap around feeling of the driver and will be here to stay.
it is a good departure from the usual sedan dashes as well as an fluid exterior design. and you do get alot of looks from other drivers even in level playing field auto markets.
design wise i think it doesnt need to compete with the vios. it just needed to overcome the ugly look of the current city( i can feel the pain of people who recently bought the current city). the dials and meter panel in the centre of the car of the vios does my head in and a steering wheel sticking out from a bland dash is just wrong. it problbly will win alot of sales but wont beat the vios/yaris sedan in sales. if it gets the civic steering wheel and provides hydraulics steering it would be a bonus for a budget car.
mazda 6 or accord euro? accord euro.
mazda 6 or accord us version? mazda 6
I starting to like this new Honda city. It does look quite sleek from beside and bit garang from the font.. I think I need to change job.. Now where is my Star's classified!?
Topgunthang is right on about comments on the Vios' center mounted gauges. Makes my head spin too. Unbelievable Toyota would do that – would anybody ever like that?? Yuk! The only possible advantage I can think of this positioning would be that it would always be reminding me to LOOK RIGHT FIRST (not looking LEFT first before pulling out which I have done all my life). Word here the new City will be coming to Thailand very soon, like in the next 2-3 weeks. The dealer will be calling me as soon as one comes in for me to check it out. Probably considers me "low hanging fruit" — I think he may right!
like it so mush .. the rear door like bmw stlye
A different feel since the last version. I actually liked the current model, wait and c this new city. Oh, manual transmission please!!!!
hajime
I share your opinion about a manual tranny. But the Chinese have a different attitude about Japanese cars. I see more VW Santana 3000 taxis, Audi A6 (all in black colour), Buick MPVs in Shanghai than a Honda or a Toyota. In fact Shanghai has more Europeanesque architecture than Asian. It would be hard for the Japs to penetrate this market.
Have been waiting for this model for ages and finally… it will come. I hope it's worth the waits…. few more months to go, just few more months to go. MUAHAHAHA!!
hey check this link out Paul. The interior shot of the new upcoming City. Its a winner!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29781768@N02/?saved=…
The interior is almost like civic. hope to see it sell at Malaysia soon. I plan to but current city originally. But now i think i will wait. Anybody know when will it be sold in Malaysia? I bet Vios sale will be impacted.