5 things to know about the upcoming Honda City Hatchback

Honda Malaysia has confirmed the arrival of the City Hatchback for the local market via a short teaser video on its Facebook page. The shortened City will replace the third-generation Jazz currently sold in Malaysia and will be competing head-to-head with the Toyota Yaris, which is one of the top-selling non-national B-segment hatchbacks in the country. With a sportier outlook, the upcoming hatch is likely to tap the younger generation, unlike the City sedan that targets a mature set of customers. 

While we are waiting for the Malaysian-spec Honda City Hatchback, let’s check out the five key important things about it.

RS hybrid trim will be on offer

The teaser video showcases the car’s rear profile highlighting an e:HEV badge on the boot lid, which clearly tells us that it will be available in RS hybrid trim. Although the pure petrol model is also likely to be on offer. Talking about the former, it could borrow the hybrid setup from the sedan. It has a combination of a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine and an electric motor where the electric motor drives the car and the petrol mill is used for charging the battery and to drive the wheels at higher speeds. The setup generates a maximum power of 109 hp and a peak torque of 253 Nm. Performance numbers include a century sprint of 9.9 seconds.

Sportier exterior looks

On the exterior, the car features a cutting-edge style with prominent character lines.  Although its front looks much similar to the latest City sedan with an identical grille and angular full-LED headlamps with integrated daytime running LEDs. But if we see beyond the C-pillar, it appears as a well-incorporated hatch model that looks sportier in comparison to the sedan. The rear fascia boasts different rear combination LED tail lights, a shark fin antenna, a steep rear window, and a sporty rear bumper. 

Further, we expect to see the Malaysia-spec model in 16-inch alloys trimmed with black accents for the sporty stance.

Shorter and taller than the sedan

Specs	Honda City Hatchback	Honda City Sedan	Difference
Length	4,345 mm	4553 mm	208 mm
Width	1,748 mm	1,748 mm	No difference
Height	1,488 mm	1467 mm	21 mm
Wheelbase	2,589 mm	2,589 mm	No difference

The above comparison reveals the Honda City hatchback is 208 mm shorter and 21 mm taller than the sedan, while the width and wheelbase of the two cars are identical.

Cabin similar to the sedan

With the model already available in Indonesia and Thai markets, we know that the City hatchback cabin looks pretty much the same as the sedan. It is likely to feature a big infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto connectivity, multi-functional steering wheel, large AC vents, automatic climate control, height-adjustable driver's seat, keyless entry, and engine start, cruise control, Honda Connect telematics, and a multi-angle rear-view camera.

Ultra seats with different seating configurations

The City Hatchback also features Ultra Seats, which were made popular with the outgoing Jazz. These are ergonomically designed seats that can be folded in multiple ways offering more legroom and more flexibility in seat and luggage configurations. These include four modes -

• Refresh: It allows you to recline the front seats for a lounge‑like setting in which you can stretch your legs.
• Long: To carry long objects, you can recline the front passenger seat and lower the rear seat to make room.
• Tall: You can also flip the rear seats for more floor-to-ceiling space to fit tall items like plants and furniture.
• Utility: You can expand boot space to accommodate bulky items such as bicycle by flattening both rear seats.

So these were the five key details about the upcoming Honda City Hatchback. Regarding its price, no information is available as of now. As for reference, the Thai-spec version retails between 599,000 baht (RM 75,073) and 749,000 baht (RM 93,871). 

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