The fifth-generation Honda City made its debut back in 2020, and ever since its introduction in the Philippines, it has become a popular choice in the highly competitive subcompact sedan segment, also gaining its own hatchback variant.

Now, the automaker has shown off the vehicle’s midlife refresh in India, and it is more of a technology and safety-heavy update that introduces features seen in the likes of the HR-V.

Oddly enough, an RS version was not revealed (as it is only available in two variants in India), leaving the City to adopt a more upscale look for its midlife update.

The exterior gains a new grille, full LED headlights and fog lamps only seen in our RS trim, a new rear diffuser, a new ducktail spoiler, two-tone multi-spoke 16-inch alloy wheels, and chrome door handles.

The interior design remains mostly the same, but also gets the upscale treatment, starting with a two-tone interior finish of beige and black with a contrast of satin-metal trim surrounding the vents and glossy dark-wood trim on the dashboard.

The seat, the door cards, the armrest, and the knee pads are now upholstered in leather, and there are some updates to the tech like a wireless charger, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a half-digital gauge cluster (like on the HR-V and the Civic V Turbo), and finally a sunroof.

It now comes with Honda Sensing built-in, complete with a shopping list of safety features such as Collision Mitigation Braking, Road Departure Mitigation, Lane Keeping Assist, Lead Car Departure Notification, Adaptive Cruise Control with Low-Speed Follow, and Automatic High Beam.

It even has the LaneWatch blind-spot camera, making it one of the most full-featured subcompact sedans on the market in terms of safety.

The Indian-market City still has the same 1.5-liter naturally-aspirated in-line-four mated to a CVT with 119hp and 145Nm, but also on offer is the City e:HEV, which has a combined system output of 124hp and 253Nm from its hybrid system.

It’s only a matter of time before Honda Cars Philippines brings in this refresh as it plans to launch three new cars this year, but we’re hoping that the hybrid model makes its way here.