Honda City

The first generation Honda City was a subcompact car and is now a compact car since the fourth generation, and is manufactured by the Japanese manufacturer Honda from 1981. Originally made for the Japanese, European and Australasian markets, the City was retired in 1994 after the second generation.

The nameplate was revived in 1996 for use on a series of compact four-door sedans aimed primarily at developing markets, first mainly sold in Asia outside Japan but later also in Latin America and Australia. From 2002 to 2008, the City was also sold as the Honda Fit Aria in Japan. It is a compact sedan built on Honda's Global Small Car platform, which it shares with the Fit/Jazz (a five-door hatchback), the Airwave/Partner (a wagon/panel van version of the Fit Aria/City), the Mobilio, and the Mobilio Spike—all of which share the location of the fuel tank under the front seats rather than rear seats. By mid-2009, cumulative sales of the City has exceeded 1.2 million units in 45 countries around the world since the nameplate was revived in 1996.

Honda City (AA)

The first generation Honda City (Honda Jazz in Europe) was a subcompact hatchback aimed mainly at the Japanese domestic market. The somewhat ungainly designed City, referred to by Honda as "Tall Boy" style, was also marketed abroad and was available in a number of versions. First introduced in November 1981 it carried the model codes AA for sedans, VF for vans, and FA for the widetrack Turbo II and Cabriolets. It was sold at the Honda Japan dealership sales channel called Honda Clio.

History

While the City's layout was traditional for its category, with front-wheel drive and a transversely mounted engine, the innovative tall seating arrangement created comparable legroom to a car many times its size. This, combined with class leading fuel economy led to it being a rapid and considerable success in the Japanese domestic market. In spite of the creativity and novelty of its design, the City was narrowly pipped for the Japanese motoring journalists' Car Of The Year Award by the luxurious Toyota Soarer. The engine was the CVCC-II 1,231 cc four-cylinder "ER", specifically designed for the City. It was also available together with the Motocompo, a special 50 cc 'foldaway' scooter constructed to fit in the City's small luggage area, itself designed around the Motocompo. Originally a sportier R version, the economical E and two commercial van versions ("Pro") were introduced. In September 1982 a turbocharged version of the Honda ER engine was added to the lineup.