Honda City Launched in Brazil

Japanese manufacturer Honda launched the City model in Brazil, a country that will also host the production of the local mode at the plant based in Sumare (60 miles of Sao Paolo). The City is a redesigned version of the Fit, also known as Jazz in several markets, which comes with a stretched wheelbase.

According to just-auto.com, Honda initially planned to manufacture the City at the company's new plant in Buenos Aires but the economic recession, together with the collapse of the Argentinean economy, convinced the Japanese manufacture that it would be better to built the Brazilian City locally.

And speaking of the Brazilian assembly facility, Honda invested around $800 million in the plant which produced no less than 700,000 cars since 1997 when it officially opened its doors. It currently employs 3,500 people and rolls out 150,00 units per year.

Honda says it aims to build 4,000 Citys per month and expected that 90 percent of this output to will be sold locally. The export models are especially planned for Argentina and Mexico, the aforementioned source added, but only when these two markets will show the first signs of recovery in their auto sectors.

As for the City, it is powered by a 1.5-liter engine releasing 114 horsepower and boasting several tweaks for optimized fuel consumption and reduced emissions. The engine is mated to either 5-speed manual or automatic transmission.

The most recent version was unveiled on September 10, 2008 in Malaysia. Honda offers the City in various trims around the world, depending on the engine configurations available locally.