Honda Cars India Limited recently launched the City facelift in the country. In India’s sedan landscape, the Honda City has always been a flagship vehicle and currently competes with cars like the Hyundai Verna, which was facelifted for the 2026 model year, along with the Volkswagen Virtus and Skoda Slavia, both of which are expected to get facelifts in 2026.
Even with the new City facelift, Honda has a tough job to compete with these rivals as they all start from a lower price point and offer exciting and peppy powertrains. Furthermore, the Hyundai Verna offers significantly more features and equipment than its rivals. Let’s see how they compare on paper.
Honda City Facelift vs Rivals
The length of the mid-size (C segment) sedan is increasing and the City facelift is not the longest in the segment at 4,594 mm, which is a cosmetic length as the wheelbase is the same as its predecessor. In fact, in this comparison the City has the shortest wheelbase while the Verna has the longest wheelbase at 2,670 mm. The Verna is the widest and also has the largest boot space at 521L.
City is the only company in the segment to offer slimmer 185-section tyres, while all rivals offer 205-section tyres. Interestingly, the City and Verna do not reveal ground clearance of 179 mm, while the Europeans do. As far as pricing is concerned, the City is the most expensive offering here as its prices start at Rs 12 lakh and go up to Rs 21 lakh for the hybrid variant. Slavia is the most affordable and Verna comes out as the hottest VFM considering everything it offers.
In terms of safety, none can come close to the safety kit of the Verna which includes radar-based Level-2 ADAS as well as an excellent 5-star Global NCAP rating. The Virtus and Slavia also get a 5-star GNCAP rating, but miss out on Level-2 ADAS and a 360-degree camera. City offers camera-based Level-2 ADAS with 360-degree cameras and Lane Watch cameras.
Powertrain is another area where rivals eat the cake as they come with powerful turbo petrol engines. Honda also promises excitement, especially with the e:HEV hybrid system with torquey electric motors, but it’s priced at Rs 21 lakh (ex-sh). The Virtus and Slavia offer turbo petrols as standard, with the smaller 1.0L engine and the more powerful 1.5L Turbo.
The Verna offers 1.5L NA petrol and 158 bhp and 253 Nm 1.5L turbo petrol, which is the highest performing (continuous) powertrain in the segment. Hyundai does not disclose mileage figures, while others do. The city’s NA petrol mileage tops at 17.97 km/l, with the Virtus and Slavia
Features and Equipment
This is one area where the Hyundai Verna beats everything that comes in its path. LED connected headlights are common between the City and Verna, only the Verna gets connected LED taillights. All vehicles in this segment come with auto headlights and rain sensing wipers. The Virtus and Slavia offer fog lights and only the Virtus is advertised with cornering function. Both the Slavia and Virtus lack a 360-degree camera and front parking sensors.
Only the Verna offers a dashcam, which is a great feature. Also, Verna is the only company to offer all four disc brakes, while City only offers it on the e:HEV variant and the Europeans do not. Infotainment screens around 10 inches are common in this segment, but the Verna is the only one with an adapter for wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, while the others support it natively.
A fully-digital 10.2-inch TFT cluster is offered with the Verna, while others offer smaller clusters and MIDs. All contenders offer single-zone climate control and a single-pane sunroof. All of them also offer ventilated front seats. Only the City offers manually adjustable front seats, while the others offer powered seats. The Verna goes a step further and offers a Boss Mode feature, which was unheard of in this segment.
Only the Verna offers rear window blinds and only the City offers rear windshield blinds, while the Virtus and Slavia offer none. All rivals offer auto-dimming IRVM, rear AC vents, paddle shifters, leatherette upholstery, front and rear armrest, keyless entry with push-button start and a telematics suite. The City’s electric parking brake is only with the e:HEV variant.
