Honda City

Motoring Channel Staff - 10/October/2008

Sydney, Australia — There were a few highlights at the Honda exhibit at the 2008 Australian International Motor Show, including the all-new Honda City and the Insight hybrid car.

Honda City

Built at Honda's Thailand manufacturing plant, the new model will be on sale in Australia from February 2009 and will give buyers a new option in the compact car segment, seeing as it is a sedan and not a hatchback.

Honda Australia's Managing Director, Yasuhide Mizuno, says the City will herald a new direction in the light sedan segment: "The City’s appeal is in its styling – a fun-to-drive car with a sporty persona. 

"It has a very spacious interior and will be packed with safety features.

"It will offer sporty styling, excellent performance as well as being fuel efficient – features that consumers demand from this segment," Mr. Mizuno said.

Though the show car is a concept, the production version of the City will be fairly similar in design and is powered by a 1.5-litre engine that delivers 88kW @ 6600rpm and 146Nm @ 4700rpm (the same motor as the 1.5-litre Jazz VTi-S). 

Though fuel consumption and emissions figures haven't been finalised, Honda says they "are set to be impressively low".

Honda has revealed that the new model will be made available with 5-speed manual and 5-speed automatic transmissions.

Honda Insight

First seen at the 2008 Paris Motor Show the week previous, Honda's all-new global hybrid, dubbed the Honda Insight, made a surprise appearance in Sydney. 

A production version of this concept is expected to be on sale in Europe and the Americas in the first half of 2009, and Australia will also get the Insight hybrid in around 2010, where it rival vehicles such as the Toyota Prius.

After it's introduction, the Insight will be joined by the Honda CR-Z hybrid sports coupe in 2010, which should be an interesting drive.

According to Honda, the Insight borrows styling cues from the FCX Clarity fuel cell car, has a low centre of gravity and a 5-passenger cabin, offering the kind of driving pleasure and roomy interior that customers have come to expect from Honda. 

Honda asserts that while the Insight Concept's aerodynamic design clearly identifies its fuel efficient purpose, its 5-door access and folding rear seats speak to functionality that is designed to meet the needs of customers with an active lifestyle.

Related Links:
- Honda Civic Hybrid (Road Test)
- Honda Insight Concept (2008)
- Honda Jazz (2008)
- Honda Accord Euro (2008)
- Honda Accord V6 (Road Test)
- Honda OSM Concept (2008)
- Honda Accord Euro (Road Test)
- Honda Crime Avoidance Sat Nav (2008)
- Mugen Honda Civic Type-RR (2008)
- Honda HF-S Concept (2007)
- Honda Civic Type R (Road Test)
- Honda CR-V (Road Test)
- Honda Civic Type R - sedan (2007)
- Honda CR-V (2007)
- Honda Legend (Road Test)