For a few reasons, what you are saying is kind of inaccurate for Altis 1.6 X.
Firstly, you get a barebones car for the price of the top of the line spec for City (according to your estimated price). The Corolla will be much more expensive to get in automatic, and then it won't even have CVT. It will be much more expensive to register, making it almost 50k to 100k more expensive on road, depending where you are. All with the feeling that the car is stripped, because the 1.8 is the focus in that category.
Compared to this, the City has the same amount of horsepower, a smaller body (not an advantage if you want a larger car, depends on you) and the delivery time for the Altis is pretty much the same as the City.
According to the teasers posted on Honda's page, the car should be higher in terms of ride height.
Again, these are pretty subjective arguments. Some people prefer the way City handles, some prefer the way the Corolla does.
I am not sure about this one, but I think the hump will be smaller in the City this time around, and the horrid fuel tank under the seat will be gone. I am totally not suggesting that the Altis is competing with the City. Altis is indeed an entire segment above City, and matches Civic in terms of comfort. However, the comparison you are making is not apples to apples. Even if City was to offer paddle shifters, people would not buy it over the Altis.
This seems to be a better comparison. However, if the Aspire comes out priced at 3.1 million, that will still match the price some dealers here in Lahore are asking for. On 17th May 2021, Toyota Airport Lahore quoted a price of 3.125 million after saying they would install cruise control in the Yaris for me. Unfortunately, I did not like the handling of Yaris as I prefer a bit firmer suspension and without side skirts, the car looks kind of incomplete. Keeping all that in mind, it was a much smaller gamble to go for City, as Honda would either match OR exceed these specs (in all seriousness).
What I am trying to say is that it comes down to personal preferences. Some people might choose a City over an Altis, and some will choose a Yaris over the City. The spectrum goes to both ends, but the important point is that different people look at different aspects while buying a car.
Agar Allah nay aap ko itnay paisay diye hain aur aap gari khareed rahay hain, Allah aap ko aap ki gaari mubarak karay.
Please do see the images attached above. The delivery time is very different for different cities, so different cities will have different choices for people. In Lahore and Karachi, that is the situation and 3.125 million is the invoice price for the top spec Yaris 1.5 Ativ X CVT (you are more than welcome to confirm it from the dealerships)
