Maruti Suzuki Ciaz take note! 2017 Honda City in pursuit to reclaim bestselling mid-size sedan badge

The City sedan is the car that gave an identity to Japanese car maker Honda in India. Launched in 1998, City emerged as the bestselling mid-size sedan of India in the following years with many facelifts. However, with the launch of Maruti Suzuki Ciaz in 2014, Honda City's domination came under threat.

In the last fiscal, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz outclassed Honda City to become the country's highest-selling mid-size sedan. The Maruti sedan found 64,448 takers, while City had 57,984 customers.

In February, Honda Cars India launched the 2017 City and it looks like the new version is in the pursuit to regain its lost crown.

Also read: 2017 Honda City's re-introduced top-end ZX variant high in demand

Honda has received over 25,000 bookings for the new City and it is promising for a car in the mid-size sedan segment. The company sold 5,948 units of the new City in April, 6,271 units in March and 6,318 units in February. An average monthly sale of over 5,500 unit means that City is on the right track to challenge Ciaz.

The 2017 City is packed with electric sunroof, 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, automatic LED headlamps, fog lamps, daytime running lamps and LED inserts for the tail-lamps, depending upon the trim levels. The top-spec, re-introduced City ZX additionally flaunts rain-sensing wipers, a boot lid spoiler, larger wheels and six airbags.

On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki has also upped the ante by promoting Ciaz to its premium dealership range, Nexa from April. Ciaz is more premium now and that is expected increase the brand value of the car. Hence, it is clear that the competition between City and Ciaz will continue neck and neck in the upcoming months.