Honda India declared the addition of a new variant in the Honda City line-up, S-AT, the much anticipated automatic model in the Indian auto market. Priced at Rs. 9.09 lacs, the S-AT model is mated to a five speed automatic transmission system and is expected to fill the void created by the existing top-end V-AT model, which is quite heavy on pricy terms. With then new addition, Honda City will feature two automatic transmission models, namely City S-AT and the V-AT. The move by the auto major will surely will facilitate buyers by providing them with some genuine options.
Honda City happens to be the biggest selling petrol run car in the entry-level sedan segment of the Indian industry and presently enjoys a major share among the automatic vehicles running on-road. Honda will aspire to capitalise on the growing trend of city drivers to go for automatic gearbox over the conventional manual transmission system. This could perhaps be a defining move to augment sales and bring more people to the stables of Honda. From a business and market perspective, the introduction of S-AT variant from Honda is a reasonable step as it provides more options to buyers in a segment, wherein it is currently dominating.
With a highly competitive price of Rs. 9.09 lacs (ex-showroom New Delhi), the Honda City S-AT is expected to raise the genuine interest among the auto aficionados. S-AT model's on-road price for Mumbai is Rs. 10.85 lacs, while the V-AT model in the city stands pricey at Rs. 11.58 lacs.
Honda City S-AT holds an impressive 1.5 litre SOHC, i-VTEC petrol engine, which has the potential to belt out a maximum power of 116 bhp at 6600 rpm with a peak torque of 146 Nm at 4800 rpm. As a part of standard accessory, steering mounted paddle shifts are provided by Honda in its both the automatic models. The manual model gives a mileage of 16.8 kmpl, while the automatic variant returns 15.6 kmpl.
In India, usually the top-end models offer an automatic transmission feature and as such, not every customer is capable of buying it. Many a times buyers face a predicament when they go for an automatic transmission system, but do not wishes for top-end features like automated climate control, satellite linked navigation or steer mounted controls. Owing to this, the introduction of City S-AT model will start a new trend in the auto market and other big players targeting the same segment are expected to follow the league.