Last week, Honda Malaysia released a ten-second teaser video on their Facebook page to announce the arrival of their latest addition to the City range, the Honda City Hatchback.
Slated to replace the much-loved Honda Jazz in ASEAN, the Honda City Hatchback carries similar-looking U-shaped signature LED lighting as the City sedan. The fast-paced video that focused on the rear quarter also tried to hide the variant used as the RS e:HEV hybrid.
Now with the second teaser video posted, Honda Malaysia has indeed confirmed the Honda City Hatchback will come with the range-topping RS grade as well as the e:HEV hybrid powertrain, as the badges are now the main focus.
The Honda e:HEV hybrid system combines a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine with an electric motor, with the latter primarily driving the car. The engine will be used as a generator or supplement extra power when needed, such as overtaking. The combined system output is 109 hp and 253 Nm, whilst consuming just 3.6 litres of fuel per 100 km travelled.
As the compact hatchback contributes significantly to Honda Malaysia’s sales, lower-priced variants utilising the regular 1.5-litre DOHC iVTEC engine are also expected to be on offer, mirroring the Honda City sedan’s line-up.
In the video, we can see that the Honda City Hatchback is fitted with 16-inch wheels in dual-tone finish, automatic LED headlamps, LED fog lamps and expect features seen on the sedan such as reverse camera, remote engine start, and Honda Sensing to be available with this new model too.
Being entirely based on the latest, seventh-generation Honda City (GN), the City Hatchback model shares the same front design, front doors as well as dashboard of the sedan, similar to what Toyota did to the Toyota Vios (NSP151) to create the ASEAN Toyota Yaris.
This bright shade of red also looks different from the Passion Red Pearl seen on the City Sedan RS e:HEV and Honda HR-V RS. In Indonesia, Honda offers both the Rallye Red and Phoenix Orange Pearl exclusively to the City Hatchback.
