2012 Honda City Debuts

Affected by two of last year’s most devastating natural disasters -- the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the massive flooding in Thailand -- Honda Cars Philippines proudly proclaimed “Honda is Back” with the launch of its new City.

The company proudly took the wraps off its enhanced third generation sedan for 2012 on Tuesday night. 

“True to our promise to ‘Forever Change the Rules,’ we enhanced, refreshed and redesigned the City based on the understanding of the customers’ needs and wants,” Tatsuya Natsume, president and general manager of Honda Cars Philippines, Inc., said.

The new Honda City features a freshly designed chrome grille, new front and rear bumpers, redesigned taillights and a set of 5 split-spoke 15-inch alloy wheels for the 1.5-liter variant.

Inside, the manufacturer has added audio controls to the steering wheel and blue-and-white illumination to the instrument cluster, as well as an “Eco Drive” indicator lamp, which lights up whenever the driver is driving efficiently.

Furthermore, Honda announced that all variants of the Honda City will be equipped with dual (driver and passenger) SRS airbags, and Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brake-Force Distribution (EBD) as standard.

The Honda City variants are equipped with i-VTEC engines in 1.5L and 1.3L displacements, 5-speed automatic transmission and fuel economy meters (average and instantaneous readout) and paddle shifters (1.5 E AT only).

First launched in the Philippines in 1996, the Honda City continues to be the company’s best-selling model with approximately 68,000 units in the Philippines. Like the rest of the Honda line-up, the City is also Euro IV emissions compliant.

Three variants of the 2012 Honda City will be available with the following prices: 1.3 S MT at P746,000; 1.3 S AT at P786,000 and 1.5 E AT at P836,000.

Naturally, during a Q & A forum, press and consumers alike expressed concern over vehicle and parts availability.

“We are on our way to recovery,” replied the Honda president. “We will start importing some Honda models from Japan, while our factory in Thailand is in the process of restoration work of its facilities and machineries. This includes Jazz, Accord and furthermore, the much-awaited all-new Civic. We are planning to launch some more Honda products that you might have not expected this year.”