By Alithea De Jesus
The Philippines officially welcomed the first-ever All-New Honda City Hatchback through a virtual event streamed via Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) Facebook Page.
With the advent of the All-New Honda City Hatchback, Honda gears up to expand its renowned City sedan lineup serving as the brand’s newest offering in the B-Segment hatchback category.
GRAND CONCEPT:
Compared to the Sedan’s grand concept of “Ambitious Sedan”, the All-New City Hatchback was derived from the grand concept of “Energetic hatchback” which aims to exude a more active and energetic character. While sharing values in terms of comfort, premium and high quality with the sedan, the All-New City Hatchback aims to provide a sporty yet versatile and cool vehicle that would complement the diverse needs of customers based on their active lifestyle.
EXTERIOR:
The exterior design in the All-New City hatchback was developed with a concept of “Energetic” by adding strength and the activeness of the sedan resulting in a “cutting edge” and “sporty” combination. Given this concept, the All-New City Hatchback further emphasizes its sportiness by embodying a sleek exterior design combined with a low height and widened width presenting an energetic feel with solid power.
The All-New City Hatchback retains the same 2600mm wheelbase similar to that of the City sedan. However, given its hatchback body style, the All-New City Hatchback is 21mm taller and 204mm shorter than its sedan counterpart. This is due to the removal of its rear overhang giving it a sporty exterior look while maintaining the capability of diverse cargo capacity.
Available only with a lone RS variant, the All-New City Hatchback shares some RS design elements together with the sedan, giving a stronger impression of its sporty characteristics.
Upfront, The All-New City Hatchback comes with its RS Design Front Bumper and RS Design High Gloss Black front grille with RS Emblem, complemented by full LED headlights and LED Daytime Running Lights that expresses an integrated solid wing face similar to that of the RS sedan. At the side, the High Gloss Black Power Folding Mirrors and 16 inch Two-Tone Berlina Black Aluminum Alloy Wheels further contributes to the All-New City Hatchback’s strong side profile character design. At the rear, sporty styling cues such as the RS Design Rear Bumper with a sophisticated diffuser, High Gloss Black Tailgate spoiler and Full LED taillights give the All-New City Hatchback an impression of being more active and young complementing its distinct sporty hatchback look.
INTERIOR
On the inside, the All-New City Hatchback continues its “Energetic” concept with the vehicle’s interior. The All-New City Hatchback features a spacious cabin complemented by high-quality materials similar to the sedan. Comprised noticeably of its suede and leather seats, black interior trims with red stitching and accents, leather-wrapped shift knob and steering wheel with audio controls, front and rear center armrests, sports pedals and Multi-information Display with red illumination, the All-New City Hatchback embodies an overall premium interior complementing its sporty RS design exterior.
Given its hatchback styling and configuration, the All-New City Hatchback comes equipped with Honda’s signature Ultra Seats (ULTR) which allows the rear seats to be folded flat or flipped up giving the All-New City Hatchback the versatility to quickly adapt to a wide variety of passenger lifestyle and cargo hauling needs. The All-New City Hatchback features four ULTR adjustable modes namely:
- Utility Mode: with the two rear seats folded flat, the vehicle can carry two passengers and accommodate large cargo items in the rear storage area.
- Long Mode: with the front passenger seat fully reclined and rear passenger seat folded flat, the vehicle can carry two passengers and accommodate long cargo items such as surfboards.
- Tall Mode: with the rear seats folded upward, the vehicle can accommodate tall items that need to remain upright, such as a large plant or tall luggage.
- Refresh Mode: When removing the front-seat head restraints, moving the seats all the way forward and tilting the seatbacks all the way back, the Refresh Mode allows the front and rear seats to be connected providing a comfortable place for two people to relax.
On top of its premium yet sporty and versatile interior, the All-New City Hatchback also boasts an array of various technology features such as an 8-inch Advanced Touchscreen Display Audio with Apple CarPlay Android Auto & WebLink connectivity, an 8 (4 + 4 Tweeters) Speaker system, and a new Air Conditioning System with Rotary Knobs, Digital Display and Illumination.
Adding to the comfort and advanced features, the All-New City Hatchback also features a One Push Start System with Smart Entry Keyless Entry System and Remote Engine Start, which provides added convenience and ease of access.
ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION
Powering the All-New City Hatchback is a 1.5-Liter 4 Cylinder DOHC i-VTEC engine that produces a maximum power output of 121ps at 6,600 rpm and 145 Nm of torque at 4,300 rpm. The engine is mated to Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) that delivers a smooth, refined, powerful yet fuel-efficient driving performance while allowing for an engaging driving experience through the use of paddle shifters. Honda’s Eco Assist System, which consists of the ECON mode and Eco-Coaching Ambient Light is still available to help promote fuel efficient driving.
SAFETY
Together with its driving performance, fuel efficiency and versatile interior, Honda also gave utmost priority to safety. As standard, the All-New City Hatchback is equipped with G-Force Control (G-CON) body structure that helps to protect the vehicle’s cabin during collisions from any direction, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) with Agile Handling Assist (AHA), Emergency Stop Signal (ESS), Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), Hill Start Assist (HSA) and Multi-view Rear Camera with dynamic guidelines. To add to this, the All-New City Hatchback also comes standard with Six Airbags consisting of the dual front airbags, front driver and passenger side airbags and side curtain airbags. Given the array of safety features available, customers may expect top-notch collision safety performance with the All-New City Hatchback as it boasts a 5-star ASEAN NCAP safety rating, thus giving customers better safety and peace of mind on the road.
AVAILABILITY AND COLORS
The All-New City Hatchback is now available at all 38 Honda dealerships nationwide with a suggested retail price (SRP) of Php 1,115,000* and comes in four (4) colors:
- Ignite Red Metallic
- Meteoroid Gray Metallic (New Color)
- Platinum White Pearl* (Additional Php 20,000)
- Brilliant Sporty Blue Metallic**
* Exclusive of Php 13,000 Safeguard Duty Cash deposit
**Available by June 2021
To know more about the All-New City Hatchback, visit the nearest Honda Cars dealership, or access Honda Cars Philippines, Inc.’s VIRTUAL SHOWROOM through HCPI’s official website at www.hondaphil.com.
