Honda Atlas officially launched on Thursday its 6th generation City model in Pakistan with the base variant priced at Rs2.599 million, marking the first major revamp of the vehicle in over a decade.

The model was officially launched in a a virtual ceremony. City underwent a facelift a few years ago, but Pakistan's consumers had not seen a generation-change since 2009.

The launch comes on the same day the company announced its first-quarter (April to June 2021) financial results. The company's fiscal year ends in March.

According to the notice, the company announced earnings of Rs928.2 million, which translated to an EPS of Rs6.5. The result is in stark contrast when compared for the same period of the previous year when it posted a loss of Rs511.02 million -- owing to the pandemic-induced lockdowns last year.

Earlier, Honda reportedly pre-booked around 12,000 units without revealing any information about the price of the vehicle, suggested market talk, with most orders likely to have come from dealers and showroom owners.

Variants

The new Honda City will come in five variants:1.2LS MT,1.2LS CVT that have a 1,200cc engine that produces 88 horsepower and 110 Nm of torque,1.5LS CVT, 1.5LAS MT, and 1.5LAS CVT that would have a 1,500cc engine capable of producing 118hp and 145 Nm of torque.

Honda City bookings are open without an exact delivery date

Price

The price range for the upcoming Honda City ranges from PKR 2.599 million for the base model to PKR 3.174 million for the top of the line 1.5L Aspire CVT.

The current City model is being sold for PKR 2.449 million for the base 1.3L manual, while the 1.5L Aspire costs PKR 2.859 million.

Here is how much each of the variants costs:

• 1.2L MT – Rs2.59 million *

• 1.2L CVT – Rs2.79 million *

• 1.5L CVT – Rs2.89 million *

• 1.5 Aspire MT – Rs3.019 million *

• 1.5L Aspire CVT – Rs3.174 million *

Here is an update on Honda City variants and advanced bookings

Exterior

Just like the previous model, the Aspire features LED DRLs, fog lamps, chrome door knobs, alloy wheels and shark fin antenna, whereas the low-spec variants come fitted with steel rims and wheel caps, body-coloured door handles and short pole antenna.

However, even the top of the line variant does not include projector headlamps and fog lamps are bulb type instead of LEDs.

Interior

The interior features dual-tone beige/black theme across the lineup with Aspire offering a 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system, touch-operated auto AC, rear vents, multi-function steering wheel, cruise control and push-button engine start/ stop. The other variants will come with a 7-inch touchscreen, manual AC with conventional knobs, and limited controls on one side of the steering wheel.

Meanwhile, the first three variants have a Keyless Entry with Trunk Opener, while the remaining two variants (1500cc Aspire MT & 1500 Aspire CVT) have Smart Key Entry.