The seventh-generation Honda City was given a minor model refresh for the Philippine market back in mid-2023. Those included revised bumpers that made it longer, along with a few interior updates which included wireless smartphone connectivity.

But perhaps, the biggest update done to the subcompact sedan was the introduction of Honda Sensing across the variant range. This meant that for under a million pesos, you get a Honda that has things like adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, and pedestrian detection for a safer and more assuring drive.

Now that 2024 has come, it looks like the updated City’s hatchback version is ready to come off the wraps. A leaked photo in Thailand gave us a first look at the City Hatchback’s new front fascia in its RS trim.

Much like the City sedan, the new City Hatchback gets a bigger grille but that’s where the similarities end. For the new facelift, Honda decided to give the hatchback version a different honeycomb pattern on the grille. It also features the longer protruding front bumper, but the side intakes that house the foglights are different from the new City sedan. If anything, the side intakes look closer to the pre-facelift version.

Meanwhile, the rear end is also likely to get the revised bumper that we first saw with the updated City sedan. It features a more pronounced diffuser-like element with a more angular design for its rear reflectors.

While Honda has not confirmed anything with the new City Hatchback, we won’t be surprised if it also comes with the new infotainment screen that now offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, along with revised dials for the instrument cluster that’s shared with the HR-V.

What we can (almost) confirm now is that the new City Hatchback is getting the Honda Sensing ADAS for the 2024 model year. It’s part of Honda Cars Philippines’ plans to introduce Honda Sensing to the rest of their model lineup, along with Honda Connect.

Meanwhile, HCPI also plans to offer more e:HEVs, but we think the City platform is not on the top of their list, for now. So that means, once Honda launches the updated City Hatchback, it’s likely to remain with the 1.5-liter i-VTEC engine and a CVT.

The updated Honda City Hatchback could have its ASEAN debut at Thailand’s Bangkok International Motor Show. And once that happens, we could expect it to arrive as early as April’s MIAS, or somewhere around mid or late 2024 in the Philippine market.