Honda's new City priced at Rs 8.5 lakh to battle it out with Maruti's Ciaz

Japanese auto major Honda on Tuesday launched the new upgraded version of its best selling sedan City in India priced at between Rs 8.5 lakh and Rs 13.58 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) with an aim to regain top slot from rival Maruti Suzuki's Ciaz.

"With the launch of the Honda City 2017, we aim to exceed our customers' expectations by offering value at a very competitive price. I am confident that with the new City we will regain our leadership position in the segment," Honda Cars India President and CEO Yoichiro Ueno told reporters here.

The new City will be available in both petrol and diesel options.

The petrol variant is powered by a 1.5 litre engine and is priced between Rs 8.5 lakh and Rs 13.52 lakh. The diesel option also has a 1.5 litre engine and is priced between Rs 10.76 lakh and Rs 13.57 (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

The City competes with Maruti Ciaz, which is available in a price range of Rs 7.86 lakh and Rs 9.96 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

While it was the segment leader for a long time, it had ceded the position to Ciaz which has been selling on an average of over 5,360 units a month this fiscal.

City on the other hand averaged around 4,600 units a month.

The new City is an upgraded version of the 4th generation. It will have safety features like dual airbags, anti lock braking and pedestrian injury mitigation technology as standard across all trim levels.

The City which was first launched in India in January 1998

And the company has so far sold 6.5 lakh units. The 4th generation City which was launched here in 2014 clocked a total of 2.2 lakh units.