Honda is all set to launch the third generation Jazz in India and the same was spotted in production guise recently. The car will be positioned between the Amaze and City.
Did you know that the Honda Jazz is also the name of a scooter from the 2-wheeler division of the Japanese manufacturer, currently sold in Canada only. Doesn’t matter because the Jazz scooter and Jazz car have nothing in common, besides the name of course. First showcased in India at the 2014 Auto Expo, the third generation Honda Jazz will go on sale in the first half of 2015 and was recently snapped in production avatar in the NCR region. To be positioned between the Amaze and City, the new Jazz is expected to be a huge success like other recent launches from Honda.
The 2015 Honda Jazz will use the same engines as the Amaze which means 1.2-litre petrol (88 PS, 109 Nm) and 1.5-litre diesel (100 PS, 200 Nm) engines will power it. While the diesel is noisy and lacks refinement compared to offerings from rivals, we expect Honda to use the learnings from the Mobilio which isn’t as bad in NVH as the Amaze and City. The use of the 1.2-litre petrol engine will ensure Honda gets excise duty benefits but that premium hatchback deserves a better powerplant as Volkswagen’s 1.2-litre TSI motor equipped Polo GT will simply blow the Jazz out of water.
Honda will position the Jazz right against the Hyundai Elite i20 but unlike the City which easily beat the Verna in sales, the Jazz won’t have it easy because the latest i20 is quite a car. Further making life difficult for the Jazz (which flopped in its previous generation) is the upcoming Maruti YRA, a car whose petrol version will easily be the best in class (just like the Swift). Honda needs to ensure the Jazz is properly loaded with a lot of equipment and isn’t priced at a premium like the City, because in the case of the Jazz, it already needs to get over the poor performance of its predecessor.
Spy Picture Source – Gaadiwaadi on Twitter
