The petrol and hybrid powertrains come with a CVT gearbox, however, the diesel engine does miss out on the transmission option.

Honda Cars India launched the 5th-generation City sedan in the Indian market back in July 2020. The 5th-gen iteration of the mid-size sedan is available in three variants: V, VX and ZX, all offered with a choice of petrol and diesel engine options. All three petrol trims also come with a choice of manual or automatic transmissions, while the diesel comes standard with a manual gearbox.

Fast forward to May 2022, Honda introduced the e:HEV (Hybrid) version of the City in the Indian market. The new Honda City Hybrid comes exclusively in the top-trim and features two electric motors, paired to the petrol engine. The hybrid powertrain is offered with the CVT automatic transmission as standard.

So, if you were to buy the Honda City which engine option would you pick & why?

Starting off with the petrol, Honda offers the City sedan with a 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated unit. It produces 119 BHP @ 6,600 rpm and 145 Nm @ 4,300 rpm and is paired with either a 6-speed manual or a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT).

Here are GTO's observations after driving the Honda City 1.5L petrol, "Beautiful, FANTASTIC, delicious 1.5L petrol engine. This is the BENCHMARK naturally-aspirated petrol in India, no matter what engine size. You will ENJOY revving it. Owners will need the willpower of God to not redline it to ~7000 rpm at every opportunity they get. In particular, you’ll love the experience of shooting from 5,000 – 7,000 rpm in “full Vtec mode”. The 1.5L petrol is silky smooth all the way to 7,000 rpm." Read GTO's full observations - here.

The Hybrid powertrain is the latest offering from Honda on the City. It comes powered using the same 1.5-litre NA petrol engine but is paired with two electric motors, offering a combined output of 124 BHP and 253 Nm. The powertrain is mated to a CVT as standard and offers three driving modes: EV, Hybrid & Petrol.

At slow speeds in town, the City hybrid is effortless to drive. It tries to stay in EV mode as much as possible and occasionally, you will faintly feel the IC engine turn on to charge the battery and then, turn off again after a while. If you prod the accelerator a little more to close a gap, the IC engine kicks in and provides the required shove. Out on the highway, the City Hybrid responds to throttle inputs in a more linear manner. At around 80 km/h you can see a small symbol light upon the power flow meter indicating that the clutch has engaged the engine directly. Speed changes are more linear with throttle inputs and you can effortlessly cruise at triple-digit speeds. Read the full official review of the Honda City Hybrid - here.

Moving to the diesel, the Honda City sedan is powered by a 1.5-litre unit, which produces 98 BHP @ 3,600 rpm and 200 Nm @ 1,750 rpm. It is paired with a 6-speed manual transmission as standard.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

My choice for the Honda City would be the 1.5L CVT. Butter-smooth automatic, one of the best naturally-aspirated petrol engines in the country and a sedan that's a genuine all-rounder. Sucks that the Diesel doesn't get the CVT like the Amaze & the Hybrid is overpriced.

Here's what BHPian Shreyans_Jain had to say on the matter:

The 1.5 iVTEC mated with the CVT gets my wholehearted vote. Proven long-lasting powertrains that are refined, efficient and peppy enough. I’ve had the diesel for over 175k km. Apart from good fuel efficiency and reliability, there is nothing to like about this engine. It is crude, noisy and has average performance which starts tapering off as the years and miles pile on. Nothing great here. As for the hybrid, it is hilariously overpriced for the economic benefit it offers, especially considering the loss of boot space. I also have concerns over the long term reliability of this complicated powertrain in harsh Indian conditions.

Here's what BHPian Shome had to say on the matter:

Voted for Hybrid, subjective to my use case.

I will not consider the City as an enthusiast's car, its high-speed dynamics are nothing to rave about, and stability at 120 km/h is mediocre. If I were to buy a C2 sedan, with all the new expressways coming in, I would tilt towards better highway dynamics. The chassis just does not do justice to the gem of an engine, the NA one i.e.

Also, in metros, where and when are we going to experience the rev-happy engine, maybe 20% of the car's lifetime or ownership time? The city, therefore, is a people mover, for family functions, going to the office in peak traffic, maybe to the market etc.

The hybrid though slightly expensive is suited perfectly for this purpose. Will take care of my pocket in terms of consumption in stop-go traffic over the long term, while giving me 90% of the NA performance if and when needed

P.S: I will not consider the City at all, the above is just for the engine preference.

Here's what BHPian avira_tk had to say on the matter:

We got a ZX CVT to replace our decade-old Fiesta (an excellent car by the way). The City diesel is not an upgrade from the TDCI on the Ford, the ten-year-old engine is smoother than the Honda diesel.

The hybrid compromises on boot space, absolute no go when it's the primary car. The diesel doesn't get an auto and even if it did, the pricing would make the petrol a good value. The 1.5 Vtec is probably the longest-running engine brand in India, glad to finally get to experience it.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

According to a media report, Honda may never offer a CVT option on the current City. That said, the next-gen City, which is due to be launched in 2020 is likely to get a diesel CVT variant. 

Earlier, Honda had revealed the 2nd-gen Amaze compact sedan with a 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder diesel engine paired with a CVT, which lead to speculations about the City getting a similar drivetrain. However, it has been reported that engineering a CVT into the diesel variant of the current City may not be feasible given the volumes sold. Honda does plan to offer a CVT option on more models in the future and that includes the next-gen City. But for now, the carmaker is concentrating on upgrading its 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel engine to make it BS-VI compliant. 

The Honda City is currently offered with a 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder diesel engine that makes 99 BHP @ 3,600 rpm and 200 Nm of torque @ 1,750 rpm and comes paired with a 6-speed manual transmission. The City is also offered with a 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine which produces 118 BHP @ 6,600 rpm and 145 Nm @ 4,600 rpm. The petrol engine is available with a choice of a CVT and 5-speed manual gearbox.

Segment rivals Hyundai Verna, Volkswagen Vento and Skoda Rapid do get automatic transmission options on their respective diesel variants. The Verna comes with a 6-speed automatic, while the Vento and Rapid get a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission. Like Honda, Maruti too doesn't offer an automatic option on the Ciaz diesel.

Source: Autocar India

The first murmurs of the automatic gearbox equipped variants of the Honda City sedan being discontinued were heard on the Team-BHP forum. Team-BHP decided to get in touch with Honda India dealers for more information of the same. Multiple dealers have confirmed to Team-BHP that the Automatic variants of the Honda City have been discontinued. Reportedly, orders for the City Automatic were being taken until the stocks of the 2012 model existed. 

Now that most Honda dealers have exhausted stock of the 2012 City Automatic sedans, fresh bookings for the automatic variants have been stopped as Honda is rumoured to have stopped producing the automatic variants. According to multiple Honda dealers, the Japanese car maker will restart production of the automatic variant of the City sedan in January 2014. With Honda already launching the next-generation 2014 Jazz hatchback in Japan, the next generation City sedan is the next car in line for a full model change.

Internationally, the all new 2014 Honda City could be launched by the end of this year, with an Indian launch scheduled to happen next year. So, Honda might restart production of the automatic variant of the City once the next generation model arrives. For those who are particular about buying an automatic car from the Honda stable, at a price point under 10 lakh rupees, their options include the automatic variants of the Brio hatchback and the Amaze compact sedan. 

Alternate options in the C-segment automatic sedan class include the likes of the Volkswagen Vento, the Skoda Rapid, the Nissan Sunny, the Renault Scala, the Maruti Suzuki SX4, the Hyundai Verna and the new Ford Fiesta. Clearly, there's no dearth of automatic cars for the C-segment car buyer as almost every major car brand save for Fiat offers an automatic gearbox in the C-segment sedan space.