Honda City Fifth Generation

The new Honda City was unveiled in Bangkok, Thailand at Siam Paragon on the 10th of September 2008 followed by New Delhi, India on 25 September 2008. and January 2009 in Pakistan and Indonesia. Honda also announced that the City will be offered in selected European countries with a 1.4 liter i-VTEC engine mated to either a 5-speed manual or a 6-speed i-SHIFT automated manual transmission.

Guangzhou Honda is developing a Honda Civic-sized sedan based on the Honda City chassis for the Chinese market. It will have a new name and a new shape but will use the City's underpinings and a 1.8 litre engine. This new car will compete against Dongfeng Honda's Civic and FAW Toyota's Corolla.

The Thai market Honda City comes in three variants - S model, V Model and SV model. The Indonesian market was offered with two trims, the lower-spec S and the higher-spec E with reclining seats. Both are powered by a 1.5 engine putting out 120 metric horsepower (88 kW), and both are available in manual and automatic transmissions.

Honda launched the new City in the Philippines on the 7th of January 2009 with four variants; the 1.3 A with manual transmission, 1.3 S with manual and automatic transmissions and the 1.5 E, whose automatic gearbox is equipped with paddle shifts that promote more sporty driving enjoyment. All variants are now equipped with a SOHC, 16-valve i-VTEC engines, creating an all-i-VTEC roster for Honda Cars this year. As a result, drivers need not to worry about the lack of horsepower.

It will be launched in Malaysia on the 18th of December 2008. It is scheduled to arrive in Singapore by the end of September. Honda launched the new City in Pakistan on 31 January 2009. It is being produced at the Honda plant in Lahore and is available in two variants; 5 speed automatic transmission and 5 speed manual. Both models have a 1.3 liter i-VTEC engine.

Guangzhou Honda will be selling the Honda City in China from the 12th of December 2008 onwards. Unlike other markets where the largest engine option is a 1.5 liter, the Chinese market Honda City will have an R18A 1.8 liter engine option.

In February 2009, Honda Australia have released the Thai made City into the Australian market in two 1.5 litre variants (VTi and VTi-L). According to Honda Australia boss, Yasuhide Mizuno, the City will compete with other light sedans such as the Japanese made Toyota Yaris sedan, Korean made Holden Barina and the Thai made Nissan Tiida. This will be the first City released in Australia since the 1980s. It will replace the market position used to be occupied by a former generation smaller-sized Civic.

In July 2009 City for the first time was built and sold outside Asia, with produciton in Sumaré Brazil. The car would be available for sale in Brazilian market first, and expoerts to Mexico and other markets in Latin America was planned from September 2009. There are three trim options (LX, EX and EXL), all of them with the i-VTEC 1.5-liter flex-fuel engine that is shared with the Brazilian Fit. The power output is 115 hp with petrol and 116 hp using ethanol. Manual and automatic gearboxes are available.

This Honda City is also present in India with the engine of the 1.5 i-VTEC. This car is available in four variants : namely E MT, S MT and V MT which have manual gears and the V AT which is the automatic version. The E variant was launched recently based on customer feedback asking for changes to the interior colour and the cost. In 2009, Honda City became the best selling model of the company, with sales volume even surpassing that of Thailand, the best selling market of the model.

The Honda City is sold in Mexico with the same 1.5 litre four cylinder engine. It is sold in two trims: LX and EX both available with either an automatic or manual transmission.