The mystery behind the Honda City Hatchback trademark filing last year has finally been solved. A hatchback version of the 2020 Honda City is in the making, a leaked design patent filing has revealed. It will be introduced later this year.
The design patent filing reveals that the Honda City Hatchback will look the same as the fifth-gen Honda City sedan for the most part. Apart from the obvious differences from the body style, the 5-door version has a slightly tweaked design for its LED tail lamps, one that reflects its relatively compact dimensions. Other exterior design highlights include the aggressive projector headlights, a prominent radiator grille and shark fin antenna.
The Honda City Hatchback will be bigger than the new generation Honda Jazz, which is 3,995-4,090 mm long, 1,695-1,725 mm wide and 1,515-1,570 mm tall. While the latter has a wheelbase of 2,530 mm, the former will have a wheelbase of 2,589 mm. While the Jazz is a truly global model, the City Hatchback will likely be sold in only a few regions, such as Latin America and ASEAN. A potential competitor would be the Mexico-made Hyundai Verna Hatchback (Hyundai Accent HB).
The Thai-spec 2020 City gets the tenth-gen Civic's 1.0-litre VTEC Turbo turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine. It has been tuned to produce 122 PS of maximum power at 5,500 rpm and 173 Nm of peak torque at 2,000 to 4,500 rpm in the B-segment sedan. The engine is mated to a CVT and returns an excellent fuel economy of 23.8 km/l. The hatch version may or may not employ the same power plant and transmission, depending on its target market.
Also Read: 2020 Honda Jazz launched in first market, priced between INR 10-14 lakh
Neither the Honda City Hatchback nor the new generation Honda Jazz will be launched in India. The former will measure over 4,000 mm in length, while the latter is too sophisticated for our market. Here, the old Honda Jazz may be given another facelift in a year or two.
