Is the VW Virtus the new king of the C2 sedan segment?

It seems that Honda has totally lost its plot in this segment with the City averaging only 800-1000 sales monthly.

BHPian Razor44 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

So, in the last 6 months sale of C2 segment sedans :

• Virtus = 9788 units total
• Verna = 8188 units
• Slavia = 7327 units

and a distant fourth...

City = 5607 units

It seems that Honda has totally lost its plot in this segment with the City averaging only 800-1000 sales monthly.

Although sales of c2 sedans are on a declining trend the downfall of Honda on this front has been quite dramatic. This graph from statista cant be any more revealing. Sad to see the downfall of this once segment topper of many years.Probably Indians dont consider the city as "aspirational" any more. Whats the way forward for Honda? Maybe launch the City hatchback alongside, to start a new C2 hatchback segment in India?

Here's what BHPian turbohead had to say on the matter:

To be fair, it's the oldest model on the block.

What Honda should do is to try and localise one of their turbocharged engines and develop an alternative to the Creta that can't be ignored like the Elevate. IMO, they know what Indians like - great value which is basically the Creta/Seltos formula like they did with the 4th gen Honda City.

The C2 sedan segment, and I hate to say it, is dead and they should focus their limited budget on the most profitable and hottest segment.

Here's what BHPian theAutoManiac had to say on the matter;

Honestly the City these days is lacking the excitement factor. Till the 4th gen, City always looked beautiful and attractive. Today it is just bland!

Even in terms of features and engine, until 4 years ago, City used to be the most feature loaded car in that segment with the best engine options!

Today the Verna, City, and Slavia look way more attractive and have lot more tech on offer!

Honda needs to understand that 8-10 years ago, a sedan buyer was just an average Indian who wanted a premium experience. Today, this customer buys Compact SUVs and the sedan buyer of today is buying sedans only because he doesn't want to look like a part of the generic crowd! To attract the crowd, Honda needs to bring back the sportiness that the old cars had. I even as a City owner won't buy a City again but will look at the Verna and Virtus.

Make it look sportier, give it a panoramic sunroof, give it some extravagant screens, and give it a 1.5L Turbo, and it will be back on top in no time. This is exactly what old City generations had! They were sporty, attractive, and had cool tech for their time. Until that happens, the 5th gen City will remain the 2nd worst City ever (Dolphin obviously takes the first spot!)

Here's what BHPian gck_tourer had to say on the matter:

Honda has an ace in its sleeve in the form of an excellent hybrid engine which can translate into very good numbers if positioned rightly.

However what they lack is intent. They should have started manufacturing the hybrid engine in India long back instead of importing it from Japan resulting in high end cost. The Honda hybrid engine is very smooth, powerful and efficient unlike the crude Toyota hybrid engine which is just efficient. I have heard from Honda City Hybrid owners that part availability for the engine is very low and results in long waiting periods. Now who will buy such expensive cars and wait forever for regular spare parts. It just make sense.

Let's be honest, the NA engine takers in the market are minuscule, they should either get a turbo engine or capitalise on the hybrid which they have already introduced in India. If they manage to localize it in India, the hybrid engine can be introduced in Elevate as well along with some bling to make good numbers.

Virtus has the classic sedan silhouette, excellent 1.5 turbo engine and clean handling for the enthusiasts. All it has to do up the quality of interiors and introduce more features to stay in the game as a leader for long time to come. However, Volkswagen has to look at introducing Hybrid or Diesel engines in their line up for India if they want to up their sales. I would also love to see the AT plus 1.5 turbo combination for city drivers who don't want the hassle of DC transmission.

Here's what BHPian aravind.anand had to say on the matter:

Honda is yet to try something new with the City since 2008 - back when the 3rd Gen was launched. They still have skinny section rubber, they don't have an exciting RS/GT variant equivalent (which can help build reputation & brand value)

The City still is good. But good is no longer good enough. The Turbo engines have taken this segment by storm already and I have seen so many Virtus 1.5 TSI vs Verna 1.5 Turbo videos by people on Youtube, but there isn't even a mention of the City, which once used to flaunt its i-Vtec against its vanilla competitors.

Its high time that Honda gets serious and brings a very strong City, Elevate and also a sub-4m SUV to fight back.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.