Comparison: Hyundai Verna vs Honda City

Despite the growing popularity of SUVs, sedans still have a decent grip over the market and the same is quite evident from the sales chart. Month after month, sedan sales have proven that no matter how alluring the SUV segment might be, Indians have always had a special connection with sedans, and it is here to stay. And a crucial role in this journey has been played by two of India’s most hot-selling sedans, the Hyundai Verna and the Honda City. More than just their respective carmaker’s premier sedan offerings, these two sedans symbolise the evolution of the sedan segment in India. The Hyundai Verna commands a legacy of over 17 years, and the Honda City recently completed its 25 years. And now that the Verna has arrived with its sixth generation and the City already ruling the charts with its fifth generation, both cars have an unignorable appeal that gives a tough time to buyers wanting to bring home one of the two sedans. This is why we have brought to you a comprehensive head-on comparison of the Hyundai Verna against the City.

Hyundai Verna vs Honda City: Dimensions

As far as dimensions go, the head-on comparison of the two sedans reveals that it is the Hyundai Verna that offers a longer wheelbase and a slightly larger boot that can come in handy for that extra luggage. Owning to the difference in the wheelbase, the Verna offers a slightly larger cabin that goes in the favour of the Korean sedan.

On the other hand, the Honda City comes with a longer and taller bodyline, while at the same time being narrower than the Verna, offering an advantage when it comes to parking in tight spots, which are pretty common across the country. Other than that both sedans are identical when it comes to ground clearance, which is ample to tackle the Indian roads.

Hyundai Verna vs Honda City: Engine and Transmission

The petrol powertrain comparison is where things get interesting between the two cars. While the Honda City comes with only a sole 1.5-litre iVTEC petrol unit onboard, the Verna  offers two 1.5-litre engines: a naturally aspirated one and a turbocharged one.

When pitched against Verna’s naturally aspirated unit, the City’s 1.5-litre iVTEC engine delivers a better output with the same amount of torque. Both the Verna and the City offer these engines with either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed CVT, with the Verna taking a lead in terms of mileage that is about 1 to 2.2 km/l higher in both manual and automatic tunes. It is the naturally aspirated engine face-off, where the Honda City picks up a slight advantage over the Hyundai Verna as the iVTEC engine is more refined and offers superb driving dynamics and is one of Honda’s best-selling engines worldwide.

When compared to Verna’s turbocharged unit, the Honda City’s engine is outshined in every aspect, be it power, torque or mileage. Hyundai’s choice of blending the turbo petrol engine with a DCT automatic has helped Verna’s engine achieve exceptional mileage of up to 20.6 km/l, over an already power-packed and peppy engine. If it comes down to the turbocharged engine, the City stands no chance at all.

Hyundai Verna vs Honda City: Features and Comfort

The head-on comparison above proves why both the Hyundai Verna as well as the City are two of the most popular choices in the sedan segment. Both cars come well equipped with several premium features such as a touch infotainment system, cruise control, climate control and much more. 

However, despite offering quite a lot, when pitched against the newly launched Hyundai Verna, the Honda City seems to struggle a bit to keep pace with the Verna. Compared to the Honda City, the Hyundai Verna absolutely shines by offering ample premium features such as a bigger infotainment system, digital instrument cluster, smart trunk, ventilated seats, type-C charging sockets and much more over and above what the Honda City offers. With a substantial edge over the City in terms of onboard features, the Hyundai Verna is a clear winner here.

New Hyundai Verna vs Honda City: Safety Features

When it comes to safety, Hyundai has truly progressed, while Honda has shined as well. Both the Honda City as well as the new Hyundai Verna performs exceptionally well when it comes to safety, with top-notch safety features such as 4 to 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, ESC and hill assist as standard. Top variants also offer additional safety features such as TPMS, auto headlamps, rain-sensing wipers etc. The fun fact here is that to match up with the Hyundai Verna, even the Honda City is now offered with ADAS features on board making both sedans truly safe.

Even though both cars offer a similar set of safety features, the difference in technology used makes the Hyundai Verna smarter and better, especially in terms of ADAS. Onboard, the Hyundai Verna, the ADAS Level 2 technology uses cameras as well as a forward-mounted radar in addition to two radars mounted inside the rear bumper. In comparison, the Honda City brings onboard only a camera-based system with no radars at play.

When compared head-on, the camera and radar-based ADAS system of the Hyundai Verna are able to offer more accurate, consistent and reliable data. Also, since the Verna uses a combination of the camera as well as radar-based systems, it is able to offer additional ADAS features such as blind spot collision avoidance, safe exit warning, and rear cross-traffic alert.

But with that said, it is also important to note that while the Hyundai Verna offers ADAS only on the top-spec SX(O) trims, the Honda City offers its camera-based ADAS system on the V, VX and ZX trims. Thus, in terms of ADAS, the Honda City offers a better value even though the Verna offers more ADAS features onboard. Moreover, the Honda City is the only sedan in India to offer ADAS with manual transmission. 

Hyundai Verna vs Honda City: Price Comparison

When it comes to the price comparison, the Hyundai Verna comes with a six variant lineup that includes the EX, S, SX, SX(O), SX Turbo and SX Turbo (O). On the other hand, the Honda City’s variant lineup is spread across only 4 trims including the SV, V, VX and ZX. 

Thus, the Hyundai Verna offers more variants than the Honda City, thereby providing more choices within each variant spectrum. However, an important thing to note here is that to enjoy the most out of the sedan, one would have to opt for the upper-mid and top trims that start from Rs. 14.66 Lakh and go all the way up to Rs. 17.38 Lakh.

On the other hand, when it comes to the Honda City, the sedan despite having a limited variant spread offers a lot more in every trim. When pitched against the Verna, each of Honda City’s variant spectrums except the base trim are more or less cheaper as compared to Verna’s variant spectrums but offer more for the price. For instance, if one opts to enjoy the best out of the Honda City, then the top-end variants start at Rs. 14.80 Lakh and go all the way up to Rs. 16.05 Lakhs. This means that even if you chose to go with the top-end trims of the Honda City, you would still save anywhere between Rs. 1.19 to 1.33 lakh.

Another thing to note is that the Honda City offers the ADAS functionality in every trim except the base, while the ADAS onboard the Verna is reserved for the top trims. This does give an edge to the Honda City despite having lesser ADAS features when compared to the Verna. Moreover, the Honda City is the only car in India offering ADAS features in manual and automatic powertrain variants. So with that in mind, even though the Verna has fancier features, it is the Honda City which is truly value for money.

New Hyundai Verna vs Honda City: Summary

Be it the Hyundai Verna or the Honda City, both cars offer a highly attractive package that has everything one needs in a sedan including features, comfort, performance and value. While the Honda City comes as a classic sedan filled up to the brim with comfort, practicality and style, the Hyundai Verna comes as a modern-day sedan that offers swanky new features, extra loadings of features and modern technology.

While in terms of dimension, the choice is more or less based on preference when it comes to the powertrain, the Verna offers two extremely capable and peppy petrol engines, while the Honda City brings a sole petrol engine onboard that is better in terms of power but not in terms of mileage when compared to the Verna. Nonetheless, both cars are very well-equipped in terms of onboard features and offer a lot to enjoy in every trim. But even there, the Verna gets an edge over the City with some new-age features that the City misses out on. The price however is a factor that plays well for the Honda City, which shines with its limited variant lineup that is cheaper and better equipped than the Hyundai Verna.

FAQ about Hyundai Verna vs Honda City