Honda has finally revealed the launch date of the upcoming Jazz hatchback. It will be launched in the month of July with two engine options.
If there is one car that many people have been eagerly waiting for, it is the Honda Jazz. Having been launched globally almost an year ago, the car had to come to India too. However, the launch date of the premium hatchback kept getting postponed. But finally, the Japanese carmaker will be launching the Honda Jazz on 8th July 2015. The most awaited change in the car is the addition of the 1.5-litre EarthDreams diesel engine. Diesel cars have been a preferred choice of Indian car buyers since quite a few years now due to the difference between petrol and diesel prices.
The Honda Jazz will be competing in the premium hatchback segment which is rapidly growing in India. Lack of parking space and heavy traffic in most metropolitan cities has made a lot of new gen families consider premium hatchbacks instead of sedans which offer very little over the hatchbacks for the price differential. The most popular hatchback in the segment currently is the Hyundai Elite i20 which sells more than its cheaper siblings. The Honda Jazz is mainly targeted at dethroning the Elite i20 from the top spot in the segment. Not so long ago, the all new Honda City beat the Hyundai Verna in terms of sales and became the segment leader.
The Honda Jazz will be powered by both petrol and diesel engines this time around. The petrol unit would be the one found in the Brio which is a 1.2-litre i-VTEC engine producing 90 PS of power and 110 Nm of torque which will be either mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox or a CVT transmission for those wanting a hassle free drive. The diesel engine will be the 1.5-litre unit seen in the City and Mobilio in the same tune of 100 PS of power and 200 Nm of torque. A rated fuel efficiency in excess of 26 km/l would be a major selling point for the Japanese hatchback. The Korean kid on the block definitely needs to worry about the upcoming Japanese kid if the pricing of the later is done right.
