Honda launches City based "Grace" Hybrid sedan in Japan

Honda has commenced sales of the Grace Hybrid sedan across dealerships in Japan. The car is equipped with Honda’s SPORT HYBRID i-DCD one-motor hybrid system. This set-up combines a 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol engine, a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission with an integrated electric motor and an "intelligent power unit" with a lithium-ion battery.

Honda claims the Grace can return a fuel economy of 34.4 km/l which the automaker says is the best among all hybrid sedan models in the Japanese market (Excluding plug-in hybrids). The sedan also comes in an all wheel drive avatar that returns a lower fuel economy of 29.4 km/l. Safety features on the Grace include Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), Hill-Start Assist and the Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) system among others. Honda also says the car features the Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body that applies Honda’s G-Force Control Technology (G-CON) to enhance self-protection and make it "less aggressive" to other vehicles in the event of a collision.

Differentiating styling cues from the City include a tweaked front bumper, LED tail lights & a small boot-lid spoiler. On the inside, the Grace gets a small blue gear knob along with the battery level readout in the instrument cluster. Like the exteriors, the interiors remain nearly identical. Honda has also added a special needs variant that features a rotating front passenger seat.

Prices for the Grace FWD begin at Yen 1,950,000 while the base AWD model starts at Yen 2,144,400.