Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) has dropped the base S variant equipped with manual transmission from the City Sedan’s variant option.
The Honda City S MT is no longer part of the range
This news came to light when HCPI updated the pricing of its model lineup. That said, all Honda City Sedan variants available in the Philippines now come standard with continuously variable transmission (CVT) only.
For a vehicle offered in the lucrative subcompact sedan market, the decision to drop the City Sedan with a manual gearbox is a bit surprising. Mainstream rivals such as the Toyota Vios and Nissan Almera aren’t following suit as these models still offer a manual transmission on their entry-level variants.
Three Honda City Sedan variants remain [Note: Photo shows V variant]
HCPI has not released a statement as to why it has dropped the said City Sedan variant. But, the actual unit sales of the City with manual tranny might not that be significant, prompting the car brand to not include it in its updated model price guide.
But with the standard use of a CVT, owners can expect a more fuel-efficient drive as verified by the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP). During AAP’s fuel efficiency test runs, the Honda City managed to post 25.17 km/l, an improvement over the model’s 2017 run that registered 23.9 km/l.
>>> Relate: Used Honda City for sale
The sporty City Sedan RS variant isn't going anywhere
The CVT is connected to a 1.5-liter inline-4 gasoline engine capable of generating 119 horsepower and 145 Nm of torque. For the top-of-the-line RS variant, it is offered with paddle shifters so drivers can control the ratios of the simulated gears. This is the closest you can get if you still prefer getting a manual transmission.
As said earlier, HCPI updated the price list of its models including the City. The starting price of the City S 1.5 CVT is now Php 938,000. This is a huge jump from the discontinued variant with the manual transmission which was offered at Php 848,000.
The mid-spec V 1.5 CVT and top-spec RS 1.5 CVT received price bumps to Php 1,018,000 and Php 1,078,000, respectively. Meanwhile, the model’s hatchback sibling, the City Hatchback, is now offered at Php 1,138,000, a Php 13,000 increase over the previous price tag.
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