2020 Hyundai Verna vs Maruti Suzuki Ciaz vs Honda City: Specs, price, features compared

The new Hyundai Verna facelift was launched recently and it comes with many segment-first features. It had a line up of new engines and transmissions to take on its rivals in the segment. The segment is pretty large and consists of cars like the Toyota Yaris, Skoda Rapid and the Volkswagen Vento as well. But we decided to see what the new Verna has to offer against its chief rivals, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and the Honda City.

Honda currently only sells the older generation petrol model of the City, and the eighth-generation City is expected to be launched soon. While sparse details about the upcoming model are known, some of the actual specifications of the upcoming sedan are yet to be confirmed by the manufacturer. So those specifications will need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Engine & Performance

In terms of engines, the Hyundai Verna seems to have more options on offer with two petrol engines and a diesel. The City is expected with the same engines in BS6 guise. The Ciaz is a petrol-only model, but it comes with a mild-hybrid system that makes it highly fuel-efficient that can rival some diesel engines. But in terms of power output, Verna’s 1.0 turbo motor has its rivals beaten with 120hp, while the City is not far behind. The diesel engine in the Verna as well delivers the most amount of torque. The Ciaz is not as generous in this department. The Verna is also the only model among the three that is offered with a 7-speed DCT. But we expect the City diesel to also come with a CVT transmission.

Dimensions

While the Ciaz may not offer the same performance, it does make up for in size. The Ciaz is the longest overall length height and wheelbase. This translates into a spacious cabin for the Ciaz. However, the new City will be a wider car that would offer better shoulder room. The top-spec models of the Verna and Ciaz offer tyres that are similar ranging up to 16-inch wheels. However, Honda has been conservative about their option of tyres and wheel sizes in India.

Features

The three models aim to offer the best bang for your buck. All do and will offer a long list of safety features but some offer more than others. The Hyundai Verna while it features many active safety features, it is also a connected car as it comes with Hyundai BlueLink that allows for additional passive safety features for the Verna. The Verna also comes with an all-digital instrument cluster and an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system. The Honda City, although unconfirmed, is expected to come with an 8-sinch touchscreen as well and it may also get connected features like the Verna. Additionally, the City is said to offer tyre pressure monitoring system and Amazon’s Alexa enabled telematics. The CIaz offers the basic mandatory safety features, along with ESP for the automatic version. And it comes with a smaller 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system that operated on the SmartPlay Studio system.

Price

When one looks at the price of all three models side-by-side, the Ciaz seems the best value for money as it offers space, and the mild-hybrid technology helps you save fuel as well. But the Ciaz does not have an extensive features list as the Verna, nor what is expected from the upcoming City. Additionally, engine options are limited to just one petrol motor.

The City would be using the same line up of engines as before and they offer decent performance that is at par with the Verna. But Honda is known to price their models at a slight premium which is why the diesel variant is expected to cross the Rs 15 lakh mark as it did with the older model.

The Verna although is more expensive than the Ciaz by quite some margin, it does have a lot more to offer with features list and BlueLink connected car technology. While on paper the Verna seems like the ideal option, we would have to drive all three models back to back to find out which would be the outright winner. So stay tuned to Express Drives.