Refreshed 2024 Honda City Hatchback makes ASEAN debut

Yesterday, there was a leaked photo of the refreshed 2024 Honda City Hatchback in Thailand. It showed the car’s revised front end, but that’s about it.

Well, it turns out we did not have to wait long to see the rest of the car. Honda Thailand has launched the updated City Hatchback. And as expected, it features pretty much similar things we saw from the updated City sedan from last year.

The exterior receives some minor tweaks both at the front and rear of the car. As we saw from yesterday, the City Hatchback gets a larger grille with a different honeycomb pattern to distinguish it from its four-door sibling when viewed from the front. The lower grille protrudes more than the pre-facelift version, while the foglight housings also get a minor style change.

Honda also added a side skirt for the Thai-market RS variant, which adds a bit of flair to the side profile of the City Hatchback. The back end, meanwhile, features a more pronounced diffuser-style plastic trim. Lastly, the new wheel style we first saw in the updated City sedan has also made its way to the five-door hatchback.

Inside, it’s more or less a carryover for the City Hatchback, except for some minor details. The instrument cluster features new graphics on the dials similar to the one on the HR-V, while the steering wheel receives additional buttons thanks to Honda Sensing that’s now standard on the City Hatchback. Other new features include Auto High Beam, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus rear seatbelt reminders.

For the Thai market, the City Hatchback is offered with two engine choices – a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder VTEC Turbo that generates 122 PS and 173 Nm of torque, and the e:HEV version that has a 1.5-liter i-VTEC motor paired to an electric motor. The latter puts out 126 PS and 253 Nm of torque on the front wheels via an e-CVT.

As mentioned earlier, Honda Sensing is now standard on the new City Hatchback. This means the car gets advanced driving assists like Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keep Assist, Autonomous Emergency Braking, and Forward Collision Warning for a safer and more assuring drive.

With Thailand getting first dibs on the new City Hatchback earlier than expected, this could mean we may not have to wait long before it makes its way to the country. The question now is, will Honda Cars Philippines change it up with the City Hatchback and offer something different to the City sedan?