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Must see Honda City Hatchback ad hits the Yaris hard, asks ‘Y’ be average?

Arvind · Nov 9, 2021 12:20 PM

Must see Honda City Hatchback ad hits the Yaris hard, asks ‘Y’ be average? 01

In much the same vein as the earlier Honda City RS, Honda Malaysia is back it again with another spicy video ad for the upcoming City Hatchback. This time hitting out at the Toyota Yaris, and even used its marketing tagline against it. 

The video is creative and there is much to be appreciated about Honda’s bold marketing approach, which requires the viewer to pick up the comparisons made between the City Hatchback and several other Toyota models featured in the video.

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To gain context, we first have to check out the Toyota Yaris ad, which carried the marketing tagline “Life needs a Y”. The ad portrays the brand ambassador Janna Nick tackling a typical day with the Toyota Yaris, portraying how it fits perfectly into her active lifestyle.

Honda Malaysia then spins this around, and asks the question, “Y stay average? Step up your game.

In its ad, titled “Hatch Matters” Honda contrasts the attributes of the City Hatchback, which is claimed to offer greater occupant and cargo space, remote engine start, the Honda Sensing ADAS suite, Lane Watch camera and finally, the 2-motor full-hybrid Honda i-MMD hybrid powertrain as featured in the range-topping City RS Hatchback variant.

The premise of the video revolves around two groups of friends that plan to go camping after travel restrictions are lifted, therefore highlighting why the City Hatchback is the perfect car for the job.

Let’s see if you can spot the following snippets in the video where the City was compared against another Toyota model.

Must see Honda City Hatchback ad hits the Yaris hard, asks ‘Y’ be average? 01

The City RS hatchback’s remote engine start cools the cabin down, the Yaris driver gets into a hot cabin

Must see Honda City Hatchback ad hits the Yaris hard, asks ‘Y’ be average? 02

Ultra Seats at the rear allow for storage of tall items, unlike in the Toyota Yaris

Must see Honda City Hatchback ad hits the Yaris hard, asks ‘Y’ be average? 03

The Honda LaneWatch feature in the City Hatchback is compared against the Toyota Corolla Cross

Must see Honda City Hatchback ad hits the Yaris hard, asks ‘Y’ be average? 04

Showing off the i-MMD powertrain, the City RS Hatchback overtakes a slower Toyota Corolla Altis

Must see Honda City Hatchback ad hits the Yaris hard, asks ‘Y’ be average? 05

Yaris is shown to have less boot capacity than the City Hatchback

This leaves the question, will Toyota respond with its own bold ad video? But does Toyota need to do anything?

Toyota has already overtaken Honda to become Malaysia's No.1 non-national brand. Even without including commercial vehicles like the Hilux, Toyota holds a 1,307 units lead over Honda, as of Jan-Sept 2021's sales total.

Also read: Review: Here's what the Thai media says of the 2021 Honda City Hatchback

Also read: Pros and Cons: Toyota Yaris – this over the Honda Jazz?

Arvind

Senior Writer

Arvind can't remember a time when he didn't wheel around a HotWheels car. This love evolved into an interest in Tamiya and RC cars and finally the real deal 1:1 scale stuff. Passion finally lead to formal training in Mechanical Engineering. Instead of the bigger picture, he obsesses with the final drive ratio and spring rates of cars and spends the weekends wondering why a Perodua Myvi is so fast.

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