Shootout: Honda City vs Hyundai Verna vs Toyota Yaris vs VW Vento
Shootout No. 188
Price OTR Mumbai: Rs. 10.22 – 16.97 lakhs (Honda City), Rs. 9.15 – 15.60 lakhs (Hyundai Verna), Rs. 10.37 – 16.77 lakhs (Toyota Yaris), Rs. 9.80 – 16.67 lakhs (VW Vento)
The Toyota Yaris in spite of being the freshest car here, can’t match its rivals
The C-segment has always been one of the most popular segments in the Indian 4-wheeler market and ruling the roost has been the Honda City over various years. Giving it tough competition is the Hyundai Verna. The City got a mid-life facelift last year while the Verna’s new generation was launched. Toyota has entered this segment with its Yaris and we decide to pit all of these cars together. That’s not all, we even decided to throw in the Volkswagen Vento to see whether it’s still got all that jazz!
Motor Quest: The Honda City has been in the Indian market for 20 years and for most part it has been the highest seller in its segment. When diesel cars started becoming popular, the City’s sales lost some steam to the Hyundai Verna and then Maruti Ciaz but Honda got a diesel engine with the 4th gen City to keep the ball rolling. The Volkswagen Vento is one of the oldest cars in this segment now though it keeps getting updates regularly.
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Some have clean lines while some have quirky styling!
Exteriors – Looks are subjective but to me, the Hyundai Verna looks more pleasing with its curvy styling while the Honda City has a beefier appearance with some sharp elements. On the other hand, the Toyota Yaris looks weird from some angles and is even smaller than its rivals. The Volkswagen Vento has a clean design and not much has changed over the years. The Verna and Yaris come with projector headlights while the City and Vento get LED lights. Except the Yaris, the other cars come with 16-inch wheels on the top-end variants and 15-inch wheels on mid and base variants while the Toyota comes with only 15-inch wheels on all variants. The smaller rubber does make the Yaris look under-tyred.
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The City has the most space but poorest build quality in the cabin
Interiors – Talking about cabin space, it is the City which is the roomiest over here with excellent space for passengers at the front and rear alike. There is ample amount of knee room and head room and the seats are pretty comfortable too. The Verna has good space at the front but its rear is very cramped with knee room being very limited. I’m 6-feet tall and with my driving position, I could barely fit at the back and my knee would brush against the backrest of the front seat. Moreover, due to its sloping roofline, headroom is also very limited in the Verna and don’t be surprised if tall passengers complain of their respective heads touching the roof. In the Yaris, the cabin is well-spaced out with good enough room even at the rear. The seats offer decent comfort and support too. The Vento too has well-shaped and comfy seats but rear seat space is just about satisfactory.
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The Verna has excellent build quality inside but rear lacks space
The Honda City is the most spacious C-segment sedan, Verna the least
If we talk about storage spaces, all of these sedans offer good practicality with more than enough places to keep all your nitty gritties. The City has the biggest boot at 510-litres followed by the Vento which has a capacity of 494-litres. The Yaris offers space of 476-litres while the Verna has the smallest boot here at 465-litres. The top variants of all these cars come with leather upholstery which uplifts the cabin ambience while lower variants make do with fabric on the seats and door pads. In terms of interior colour scheme, all of these get a dual tone dashboard which seems to be the trend these days. Interior build quality is the best in the Vento followed by the Verna and then the Yaris while it is the poorest in the City.
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The Yaris’ cabin doesn’t feel upmarket but gets the most features
All 4 sedans are loaded with a good amount of equipment. All of them get a touchscreen infotainment system but only the Verna and Vento come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto while the Yaris and City get MirrorLink connectivity. The sound system on the Yaris doesn’t sound very good in comparison to its rivals and it feels like an aftermarket unit while the touchscreen on the City is glitchy. Some other features that are common to all cars here are cruise control, steering-mounted controls, reverse parking camera, keyless entry and push-button start.
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The Vento has superb fit & finish but feels outdated now
The Hyundai Verna has some unique features like front ventilated seats and a smart trunk which basically opens the tail gate when the person with the car key stands near the boot lid. The Yaris is the only car in this segment which comes with 7 airbags and front parking sensors and it also gets a power adjustable driver’s seat. The Honda City misses out on rear parking sensors while the Verna misses out on auto wipers. The Yaris and Vento don’t get a sunroof.
