The Honda City has been the Japanese carmaker’s most successful car in India. Launched in 1998, the Honda City is now in its fourth generation in India and has received its mid-life upgrade before the advent of the new-generation City by 2020. In the Indian car market, the City competes with the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, the Hyundai Verna, the Skoda Rapid, the Volkswagen Vento, the Renault Scala and the Nissan Sunny. The Verna has been long overdue for an update and sales of the dated car have tanked. The VW Vento almost resembles the Skoda Rapid and hence we pit it against the recently updated Rapid. The Renault-Nissan twins have become marginalised over time.
Maruti Suzuki Ciaz
The Maruti Ciaz is longer and wider than the City and is more efficient for both the petrol and the diesel mills. The Ciaz gets projector headlamps as well. Add the service network and cost of spares to the equation and the Ciaz seems to run away with it. But then, the Honda City now has LED daytime running lamps. It also gets an electric sunroof and tilt and telescopic adjustable steering wheel. Both the diesel and petrol engines of the City, 99bhp and 117bhp respectively, are powerful as compared to the Ciaz (89bhp for diesel, 91bhp for petrol). The rear seats are foldable and it gets driver armrest storage as well. At Rs 9.64 lakh ex-showroom, Delhi, the top-spec Maruti Ciaz diesel is a whole Rs 2 lakh cheaper than the Honda City. For the buyer it doesn’t matter if the SHVS technology is nowhere close to a real hybrid but still enjoys the benefits under the FAME initiative by the government put together to encourage hybrid and electric cars. In case of the petrols, the City is just over half a lakh expensive than the Ciaz.
Skoda Rapid
The Skoda Rapid has been recently updated and finally gets the sharper looks of its bigger brethren, the Octavia and the Superb. It also has LED DRLs like the Honda City but has projector headlamps as well. The Rapid top-spec diesel is almost as expensive as the City and while it also lacks a sunroof like the Ciaz, it has the 7-speed DSG automatic. It gets Brake Assist with ESP and hill-hold as well. While it doesn’t have reverse camera like the other two, it has Cruise control like the Honda City. It gets rain-sensing wipers along with remote-opening functions for the boot-lid. The Rapid comes with the most powerful diesel engine of the lot and with its shorter length, is a much better handler than the other two. It does miss out on the space in the back as compared to the others, but if the car is meant for a young nuclear family, rear space is not a real concern.
