The City brand is the cornerstone for Honda Cars India, giving the Japanese carmaker its grounds at our shores in 1998. It's one of the oldest brands still alive and on sale in our market, now, however, Honda surprised us when it announced selling the existing fourth-generation Honda City alongside the new upcoming fifth-generation model. It's a strategy which will help the carmaker cater to a wider set of customers at different price points. But is it something new? Have we ever seen this strategy used before? Well! we have and brands like Hyundai, Ford, Skoda and even Tata Motors have exercised this method before. Here's a list of all the models that been continued from the brand alongside their successors.
Also Read: The Return Of The King: All-New Honda City Review
The Hyundai Santro Xing was succeeded by the Hyundai i10 in 2007.
The Santro Xing was in its third-generation when it was succeeded by the Hyundai i10 in 2007, but wasn't immediately taken off the production line. The Hyundai Santro Xing was equipped with a 1.1-litre, four-cylinder engine while the i10 got the 1.2-litre, four-cylinder Kappa motor which has been upgraded to meet the BS6 emission standard and continues to power several Hyundai models even today.
The Hyundai Grand i10 was positioned above the i10.
The Hyundai i10 was later joined by the Grand i10 in 2013 and shared the platform as well as petrol engine line-up with the i10. Of course, it was bigger in dimensions than the i10 and was has a premium positioning with a higher price tag. It also came with some first-in-class features like rear air-con vents and in-built memory storage for songs among others that the then Hyundai i20 even didn't have. Hyundai had positioned it between the i10 and the i20. The Grand i10 went up against the Maruti Suzuki Swift and gave it a tough fight, becoming one of the top bestselling models in India for a long time.
The Hyundai Grand i10 Nios succeeded the Grand i10 last year.
The Hyundai Grand i10 Nios entered the market in 2019 as a successor to the Grand i10 and as a premium offering. It again came in with some segment-first features like the wireless phone charging and connected car tech among others and with a striking new design. It is spawned by a new platform and shares its 1.2-litre engine with the Grand i10.Later, Hyundai India also added the Hyundai Venue sourced 1.0-litre, three-cylinder GDI Turbo engine to its range.
The fist-gen Hyundai Verna was launched in India in 2006.
The Hyundai Accent was one of the most affordable sedans of its time and has quite a long run in India of over a decade before it was taken off the assembly line in 2013. In 2006 it was joined by the first-gen Hyundai Verna which was priced at a premium. While the Hyundai Accent rivalled the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Esteem and Ford Ikon, the Hyundai Verna took on the Maruti Suzuki SX4, Honda City and Ford Fiesta Classic. Now many wondered if it was a successor to the Accent or a premium offering as it had a bigger 1.6-litre engine along with Accent's 1.5-litre unit, more features and was underpinned by a different platform. To that, in many markets the Hyundai Verna went on sale with the Accent nameplate.
The Skoda Octavia entered the Indian market in 2012 with 2.0-litre petrol and diesel engines and a newly developed dual shift gearbox (DSG).
Well it was a delight to have both the Skoda Octavia and Laura being sold alongside. Both models eked out performance and for all its worth, the Skoda Laura was offered at a more affordable price point. In India, along with the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder TDI diesel engine, the Skoda Laura also got the 1.8-litre, four-cylinder TSI engine which though was quite heavy on your pocket, was an absolute delight to drive with a seamless power delivery. The Skoda Octavia entered the Indian market in 2012 with 2.0-litre petrol and diesel engines and a newly developed dual shift gearbox (DSG).
Ford introduced the updated Ford Fiesta (known as the Focus sedan in the US market) in India in 2012.
The Ford Fiesta Classic, Ford Ikon and Ford Fusion were few of the models that auto enthusiast really enjoyed driving back in 2000's and surprisingly delivering a fuel economy of over 14 kmpl, they didn't bite your pocket as brutally as one would expect a 1.6-litre engine would do. While the Ford Fusion and Ikon were later discontinued after a good a decade run, Ford introduced the updated Ford Fiesta (known as the Focus sedan in the US market) in India in 2012 with a new 1.5-litre engine.
The Tata Indica Vista was the last model to wear the Indica badge.
The Tata Indica is the brand that shaped Tata Motors as passenger vehicle maker in India and the Tata Indica Vista was the last model to wear the Indica badge. The fiat-sourced 1.3-litre multijet engine powered variant was popular among personal car buyers as well as in the fleet market. Later in 2016, the Tata Bolt joined the line-up with new 1.2-litre petrol revotron and the same Vista sourced 1.3-litre quadrajet revotorq diesel engine.
The Tata Zest was introduced just before the Bolt in 2016 and shared the 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel engines with the Bolt.
The Tata Indigo eCS had an unparalleled run in the Fleet market being one of the most fuel efficient and easy to maintain models on offer in its time. While the 1.2-litre petrol and CNG variants found quite a few private buyers, the Fiat-sourced 1.3-litre multijet diesel engine powered variants took the fleet market by storm delivering a fuel economy of 24 kmpl, giving the Indigo CS the 'e' prefix which denotes economical. The Tata Zest was introduced just before the Bolt in 2016 and shared the 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel engines with the Bolt.
The BS6 complaint 1.5-litre petrol engine will be powering both generation models.
