The Honda City was originally a three-door supermini-sized automobile hatchback manufactured by the Japanese Honda company, and was launched in 1981. It was one of the first "tall" hatchbacks: to maximize interior room without occupying more road space, the body was quite tall.

At the Tokyo Motor Show that year, one gimmick was a folding motorcycle that could fit into the City's boot. A turbocharged version was added to the range in 1982 and a cabriolet version soon after.

In 1983, the Honda City replaced the Mini in New Zealand Motor Corp.'s local assembly line-up.

Honda exported the City as the Honda Jazz in Europe, the City name being owned by Adam Opel AG at the time.

Honda replaced the original City with a low subcompact car, the GA1 series, in 1986, with an update to the GA2 in 1989. This model was produced until 1994. There was no cabriolet model. The Fit name appeared as a trim variant on this generation of City. In most European and Australasian markets, the City Mk II's market position was filled by the Honda Logo (GA3) in 1999.

In April 1996, the Honda City familiar to many Asian markets was released in Bangkok. This City, still a subcompact slotting beneath the Honda Civic, is a four-door sedan model for the developing markets in Asia, and built in Ayutthaya, Thailand. In Japan, the same model is called the Honda Fit Aria; the Aria tag is not used in the People's Republic of China.

A revised, facelifted third-generation City was released in 2000 and included sports sedan models powered by Honda's 1,500 cm³ VTEC variable valve timing engines.

In November 2002, the City Mk IV was released and included an all-wheel-drive model. Its appearance resembles a booted version of the contemporary Honda Jazz.