2026 Honda City Facelift Leaked Ahead of Launch, Here’s How It Looks

Honda fans can rejoice as the carmaker has answered to the long-awaited need of the market. The Honda City, which is currently on sale in its fifth generation, is poised to get a facelift, which will be launched on May 22. The new City sedan has been spotted undisguised ahead of its launch, and the spy shots give us a clear view of its refreshed design. Here’s everything we could spot:

What Could Be Spotted?

These leaked images of the facelifted Honda City suggests that Honda has taken a new route of design language for its bestseller, bringing in the modern lightbar style DRLs for the face of this car, along with sleeker LED headlamps, a new gloss black grille and edgier bumper with vertical cut outs.

The City now gets blacked-out chrome elements unlike the outgoing model which got chrome elements on the grille, window line, and door sills. One can also spot a camera at the front which is a part of the newly-added 360-degree camera system.

From the side, the overall silhouette looks similar to the previous-gen Honda City with no major changes. However, these images do show a new sportier design for the alloy wheels to add some freshness to the design.

The rear-end of the new City features a sleeker bootlid spoiler, a reworked bumper. While the taillamp cluster remains similar in shape, it now features a 'clear-lens effect' which gives it an unmistakable look. 

Interior

Inside though, not much has changed besides the larger free-standing touchscreen in the centre. The dashboard layout remains similar to the outgoing car, and the three-spoke steering wheel has been carried forward along with the semi-digital instrument cluster and rotary AC controls lower down. Besides this, it could be offered with a new cabin theme as well, although the black and beige colour scheme will be carried forward parallely as seen in these leaked images.  

Features

In terms of features, the City facelift gets an updated touchscreen infotainment system, which replaces the 8-inch unit from the current car. Honda has also added ventilated seats with this update although the sedan will continue with existing features like a wireless charger, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, an electric sunroof, keyless entry, auto headlamps, rear AC vents and an 8-speaker sound system.

In terms of safety, the City facelift adds a 360-degree camera to its list of features. It is expected to also be equipped with 6 airbags, a Level-2 advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), electronic stability control (ESC), hill start assist (HSA), rear parking sensors and ISOFIX child seat anchorages.

Powertrain Options 

The facelifted City is most likely to use the same powertrain options as the previous generation. Here are its detailed specifications:

CVT: Continuously Variable Automatic Transmission   Notably, the City Hybrid is also expected to undergo this update, and could launch alongside the regular city with similar changes to the overall package.

Launch Date, Expected Price And Rivals  

Honda will be launching the sedan on May 22, with prices expected to start from Rs 12.50 lakh (ex-showroom). The Honda City only has a handful of rivals like the Hyundai Verna, the Skoda Slavia, and the Volkswagen Virtus which are also expected get major updates soon.

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