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Honda City

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Honda City

The Honda City (Japanese: ホンダ・シティ, Hepburn: Honda Shiti) is a small car which has been produced by the Japanese manufacturer Honda since 1981.

The City was originally a 3-door hatchback/2-door convertible for the Japanese, European and Australasian markets. The 3-door City was retired in 1994 after the second-generation and replaced by the Logo. The nameplate was revived in 1996 for use on a series of subcompact four-door sedans aimed primarily at developing markets, first mainly sold in Asia but later also in Latin America and Australia. Since then, it has been a subcompact sedan built on Honda's Global Small Car platform, which is shared with the Fit/Jazz (a 5-door hatchback), the Airwave/Partner, and the first-generation Mobilio — all of which share the location of the fuel tank under the front seats rather than rear seats. The seventh-generation model launched in 2019 features a significant size growth, offering an exterior dimension on par with the ninth-generation Civic sedan. This generation also marks the introduction of the 5-door hatchback model starting from 2020.

From 2002 to 2008, the City was also sold as the Honda Fit Aria (Japanese: ホンダ・フィット アリア, Hepburn: Honda Fitto Aria) in Japan. The City is also sold as the Honda Ballade in South Africa since 2011. The City was reintroduced in Japan in 2014, this time called the Honda Grace (Japanese: ホンダ・グレイス, Hepburn: Honda Gureisu) up to its discontinuation in 2020. Between 2015 and 2019, Dongfeng Honda sold a remodelled version of the City called the Honda Greiz, and its 5-door liftback counterpart Honda Gienia.

The first Honda City (AA for sedans, VF for vans and FA for the wider Turbo II and Cabriolets) was introduced in November 1981 with the innovative "Tallboy" design; of unusual height it enabled four adults to fit comfortably in the very short City (under 3.4 m or 11.2 ft). Produced as a 3-door hatchback in a variety of trim levels, the City was also available together with the Motocompo, a special 50 cc 'foldaway' scooter with 2.5 hp (1.9 kW) designed to fit in the City's small luggage area ("trunk"); called a "trunk bike", Honda called this type of scooter "trabai". At the time of its introduction, it was Honda's smallest car, while not being in compliance with Japanese government kei regulations. It was longer than the Honda N360 by 383 mm (15.1 in), but shorter than the first-generation Honda Civic by 171 millimetres (6.7 in).

The Honda City Turbo was introduced in September 1982. It was powered by a turbocharged version of the 1231 cc Honda ER engine. A Pininfarina designed drop-top Cabriolet utilised the wider fenders and bigger bumpers of the Turbo II "Bulldog", but was only available with the naturally aspirated 67 PS (49 kW) engine. There was also a Pro-series of van versions with either two or four seats. A high-roof "R Manhattan Roof" version with a 10 centimetres (3.9 in) taller roof also appeared.

Exports of the City were primarily to Europe (where it was renamed Honda Jazz, due to Opel having trademarked the City name), Australia (in two-seater 'van' form, to circumvent Australian import restrictions on passenger vehicles at the time) and New Zealand (where it was locally assembled). Production ended in late 1986 with the introduction of the GA type City.

Honda replaced the original City series AA in November 1986 with this generation (designated GA1), and again with an update in 1989 (GA2). This model was produced until 1994. The Fit name also first appeared as a trim variant of the second-generation City. There was no convertible model, with both the convertible and Turbo models of the previous generation continuing on sale for a little while. In most markets aside from Japan, the City's market position was left open until filled by the Honda Logo in 1999.

On 31 October 1986, the second-generation City was introduced with the slogan "City of Talent." in Japan, and was available at Honda Clio dealerships. The Honda Clio dealership chain was being positioned as Honda's purveyor of luxuriously equipped vehicles like the Honda Legend, the Honda Concerto, and the Honda Accord, and this generation City enabled Clio locations to sell economically priced vehicles normally found at Honda Primo.

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