Honda introduced the 5th generation of the City last year and it is a hit in the market. It is the best selling mid-size sedan. Honda sold more units of the City than the Hyundai Verna, Toyota Yaris and the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. Now, as per the latest rumours, Honda might launch the hybrid version of the City around May or June 2021. That is not all, the Japanese manufacturer is also working on introducing the third generation of HR-V  premium mid-size SUV in the Indian market which will also come with a hybrid powertrain.

The City Hybrid will be using a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine. It will be capable of producing 97 bhp of max power and a peak torque output of 127 Nm. The sedan will come with two electric motors. One will be integrated with the engine to act as an integrated starter generator. While the other one will drive the front wheels via a single, fixed-ratio gearbox. The total power output of the sedan with the engine and the electric motor will be 108 bhp and the torque output will be 253 Nm. There will three driving modes namely, Hybrid drive, Electric drive and Engine Drive. The driving modes help the sedan to run on hybrid power that optimises the system for power and efficiency, in electric drive the sedan runs on electric motors alone and in the engine drive, the sedan is running only on its gasoline engine. If launched, Honda City will be the first hybrid to be introduced in the segment.

It comes with a lane-watch camera, adaptive cruise control, part TFT screen for the instrument cluster, lane-keep assist, electronic parking brake and much more. However, we do not know how much of this equipment will be carried to India.

Now coming on to the HR-V, it is a premium mid-size SUV, which is also known as Vezel in some international markets. Despite being an SUV, it comes with a slightly coupe-like design. It is expected to hit the Indian market post the festive season and it will be positioned as a premium offering. At the front, there are sleek LED headlamps that curve with the bodywork of the SUV. It gets simple horizontal lines for the grille. There are a sleek faux skid plate and horizontally placed sleek fog lamps. At the rear, you get LED tail lamps which are connected by a slim light bar that stretches across the width of the SUV. The interior is simple yet elegant. You get a similar part TFT instrument cluster like we have seen on the 5th generation Honda City. The automatic climate control also gets three simple dials that keep the centre console uncluttered. The floating touchscreen infotainment system will come with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The AC vents are neatly integrated within a strip that goes through the passenger side of the dashboard.

Powering the HR-V, is a 1.5-litre petrol engine and a dual-motor petrol-electric hybrid powertrain in the international market. However, in India we expect it to come with the same powertrain options as the 5th generation Honda City.