New-Gen Honda Amaze Launch Tomorrow: What To Expect

The third generation of the Honda Amaze subcompact sedan will be launched tomorrow and there are a lot of expectations from the car. Now, the Amaze was first launched in the country in 2013 and was available with a diesel engine. Well it marked the company’s foray into the small car diesel space. Roughly 11 years later comes the third generation, but this one will be petrol only, but will be the most tech laden and modern Amaze to date. 

Platform

The new-gen Amaze will be built on a modified version of the platform used by the Honda City, which could enhance its structural strength and stability, so expectations as far as crash test ratings go are on the higher side. However, we’ll know more on that front at the launch tomorrow. 

Exterior

On the exterior, the new Amaze will sport a redesigned front and rear, refreshed headlamps and tail lamps, and newly styled alloy wheels. Most of this has been teased by the company through sketches but we’ll get to see it in the flesh tomorrow. There’s no doubt it looks modern now and ‘in’ with the times. While the first gen was more curvaceous and chiselled, the second gen was squarish. This, new gen model, is still squarish in design and yes, looks like a shrunk version of the City. 

Interior

The new Amaze is expected to adopt design elements from the latest Honda City, including an upgraded interior theme and an enhanced infotainment experience with a larger touchscreen display.  An 8-inch infotainment system is what will be offered and features like Apple Carplay, Android Auto will be part of the package. Other features include wireless phone charger, rear AC vents, and a single-pane sunroof, but these features are likely to be restricted to the VX and ZX variants. 

Safety

For the first time, Honda will be introducing ADAS in the Amaze. The ADAS suite includes features like lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, and autonomous emergency braking. Other features like six airbags, ABS with EBD, hill-hold assist will also be part of the package.

Engine

The Amaze will only be available with 1 petrol engine – the 1.2-litre 4 cylinder. This one makes 89 bhp and 110 Nm. On offer will be a 5-speed manual and a CVT as well. We don’t expect any surprises in this department

Price

Currently the Amaze is priced from Rs. 7.23-9.90 lakh. We expect the new-gen model would be slightly higher, but if Honda can manage to introduce the Amaze at the same price and tag it as ‘introductory’ it would be very aggressive pricing. Given that the new Maruti Suzuki Dzire begins from Rs. 6.79 lakh, will be the price to beat, Honda, would want to price is as low as is possible. We expect though that the top-end model will cross the Rs. 10 lakh mark.