2026 Honda City Is Finally Here! Prices Start At Rs 12 Lakh
Design enhancements and a fresh set of features, but is that enough for the 2026 Honda City to take on the likes of the Verna and Virtus? Let’s find out…
One of the most long-lived compact sedan nameplates in India, the Honda City, has now got a facelift in its 5th-generation phase. Prices now start at Rs 12 lakh (introductory, ex-showroom pan-India). The city continues with its tried and tested i-VTEC 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol and petrol-hybrid powertrain options. But with the makeover the 2026 City now looks sportier and it now offers a fresh set of features. Before we dive into more details, let’s first have a look at its variant-wise prices:
2026 Honda City: Variant-wise Prices
Petrol Manual
- SV - Rs 12 Lakh
- V - Rs 13.30 Lakh
- ZX - Rs 15.26 Lakh
- ZX Plus - Rs 16.15 Lakh
Petrol Automatic (CVT)
- V - Rs 14.30 Lakh
- ZX - Rs 16.26 Lakh
- ZX Plus - Rs 17.15 Lakh
Petrol Hybrid (e-CVT)
- ZX Plus - Rs 21 Lakh
All prices are introductory, ex-showroom, pan-India
2026 Honda City: Sporty Exterior
Fundamentally, there’s been no change in the design language of the 2026 Honda City, but the changes in design elements make it look sleeker and sportier than its predecessor. Up front it gets sleeker LED headlights, connected LED DRLs with a broader honeycomb grille, while the Honda logo on the hood just stands out.
In profile, it’s hard to notice any talkable changes except the newly designed dual-tone alloy wheels, however the size remains unchanged, i.e, 16-inches.
Just to make things interesting at the rear, the tail lights have been smoked and a tweaked rear bumper adds some fresh appeal to the sedan.
2026 Honda City: Same Interior But More Equipment
The dashboard layout remains unchanged in the City facelift, and it comes with the same black and beige colour theme. However, small changes like dark chrome around AC vents and the addition of ambient lights on the dash does make things look good.
Despite having the same cabin, it comes with a fresh set of features like a bigger 10.1-inch touchscreen with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, ventilated front seats, and Type-C USB ports, and a 360-degree camera. Interestingly, a shortcut button to the 360-degree view has been placed on the left side stalk behind the steering wheel.
The City 2026 continues to come with amenities like auto AC, 7-inch semi-digital driver’s display, an 8-speaker sound system, cruise control, 6 airbags, rear parking sensors, and camera-based level 2 ADAS.
2026 Honda City: No Changes Under The Hood
The i-VTEC continues its journey with the 2026 City facelift with the same powertune (121 PS/145 Nm). It can be had with either a 6-speed manual transmission or a 7-step CVT gearbox. It can also be had with a 1.5 litre naturally aspirated petrol-hybrid motor (126 PS/253 Nm, combined output) exclusively available with an e-CVT gearbox.
Were you expecting the new Honda City to get a turbo-petrol engine option? Well, Honda has doubled down on what it has always done; offering a smooth, refined, tried and tested naturally aspirated petrol engine that has built its own loyal fanbase over the years.
2026 Honda City: Competition Check
It continues to take on the likes of the Hyundai Verna, Volkswagen Virtus, and Skoda Slavia. While Hyundai Verna has already undergone a minor facelift, the VW-Skoda twins are about to receive their first makeovers.
