Thai Honda City gets more equipment!

Japanese automaker, Honda has launched the new City sedan in Thailand. The car is priced between 550,000 baht and 749,000 baht. The car was launched in India earlier this month. However, there are many differences between the Indian and Thai cars.

Honda is selling the City in Thailand with the same 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, i-VTEC, petrol engine that is found in the Indian car. This power plant puts out 117 hp @ 6000 rpm and 146 Nm of torque @ 4700 rpm. The City is available in six variants – S (MT) S (AT), V, V+, SV and SV+. While the S (MT) gets a 5-speed manual transmission, the rest of the variants feature a CVT transmission with a 7-speed paddle shift. In India the CVT gearbox is available only on two variants. Honda does not sell the diesel powered City in Thailand.

On the inside, the City’s interior is available in a choice of two colours, depending on the variant – beige for the S, V and V+ variants and all-black for the SV and SV+.

Coming to the equipment, the Thai City gets many more safety features than its Indian cousin. Anti-lock Brake System ABS, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), Hill Start Assist (HSA), Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) and dual front airbags are standard across all variants. Additionally, the SV+ variant gets six airbags including side airbags and curtain airbags.

Like the Indian car, the Thai City has steering mounted controls for operating the infotainment system, the telephone and the cruise control. However, it gets a few more buttons. The rear seat of the Thai City is split in a 60:40 ratio and can be folded forward. It gets 3 adjustable headrests to the two fixed ones on the Indian car. The 7-inch touchscreen comes with satellite navigation and a different interface as well.

The SV and SV+ ride on bigger 16-inch alloy wheels and 185/55 R16 section tyres. The Indian car is available only with 175/65 R15 tyres and less desirable alloy wheels.

Considering India is a larger market for the Honda City than Thailand, it is surprising that the Thai car is much better equipped!