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-   -   Honda to Launch BRIO Automatic by Diwali EDIT - Clear Pics on Pg 7 & 10 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/126120-honda-launch-brio-automatic-diwali-edit-clear-pics-pg-7-10-a-9.html)

Hope this motivates the hatch makers to offer AT options. Every country has better AT options than us. An AT option in the Jazz will be great if the price is right.

Brio has been consistently doing well, and will continue to do so. Hence Honda India's focus is more on the Brio.

On the other hand, even with the adjustment in prices and making it more affordable, the Jazz hasn't exactly picked up in sales and hasn't set the charts on fire just yet. That's why they are mum on the Jazz's future. I really hope they keep the Jazz in their portfolio - it's still one heck of an option in the premium hatch segment.


I couldn't test the torque because I was driving inside the compound in which all sorts of cars were piled in, even the serviced Hondas! The moment I drove to the front of the dealership, I got a minute to stretch it's legs and that's when I touched 40 on D. There was enough pep on offer to pull the car cleanly to 40, that's what I observed. Linear, continuous, perfect acceleration.

Steering is pretty light, but weighs up slightly with speeds. That's what I like about all Hondas, specially in my City. The Brio AT is no different.


The Brio AT should definitely be more FE-friendly than the i10 AT, IMO. And combine that with more spaciousness and a superbly peppy engine which performs well too, and we have a clear winner here.


Bang on, sir! The cars have been sent to the dealerships to get RTO-approved before the launch, and they will serve as showroom displays once the launch date nears. Possibly double up as an (early) TD car as well.


I suggest waiting for a little bit till the Brio AT launch and test-driving it before making a decision. You won't be disappointed, trust me. In fact, I have a strong feeling you and your better half are going to be very, very pleasantly surprised.

And yes, it is destined to be a game changer in it's segment, provided they don't bungle up the pre-determined pricing.


It's not a deal breaker for me. I rarely glance at the speedo when driving my car (my full and sole focus is on the road), and the only times I glance down is to check my speeds & RPMs and to see if I am not over-speeding. And we all pretty much have a good idea about when to change gears and which gears are optimum for which speeds, so it does not bother me too much not to have a gear indicator. Why, without the gear indicator in my 2012 City, I am constantly getting 13.5 kpl inside city and 19.7 on highways!


Exactly the point I was making above.

The next-gen Jazz should be priced competitively as well, now that Honda is localising it generously (about 87%) to keep down costs involved. It might get a simultaneous petrol/diesel launch, but not before 2014.

Yes the MPV is based on the Fit (Jazz) platform. That will make it 3 cars sharing the same platform - the Jazz, the MPV & the City.

A Brio Diesel AT?! Ah, if only wishes had wings!

Maybe, who knows, someday. Never say never. :)

It's got nothing to do with speed, right gears or FE. My gripe is a lot simpler. For example, if I'm parking my Santro in my basement, which is darker than the daylight I have just come from and my eyes are still adjusting, I can't tell if I've correctly selected reverse or one of the low ratios by mistake unless I switch on the lights and glance down at the gear lever. This is true for all low-light situations. A PDNR21 display in the dash would be so much more convenient (that is what I meant and not the gear number). Automatics shouldn't be sold without one.

I second this StarScream. At the time when I did TD of City AT, I really missed the gear indicator on the console (perhaps more because I had already test driven the Vento AT and it has got this feature and I find it quite useful. Sometimes for fun I just try to see how much I can rev before gears change :) RavenAvi it is quite useful feature in Automatics as in AT we are not totally in control of gears (perhaps thats why you dont miss it in your Pegasus as it is manual and you always know where you are). It is useful to know what gear we are in.

I hope instead of the Eco indicator Honda gives a proper gear indicator in their next iterations.

Wouldn't the letter on the gear console light up when you shift gears? Atleast this is how it used to be on the Civic in the middle east [apart from the lighting on the speedo]. So I expected the lighting on the letters next to the gear lever to be standard on all cars!

No, in the Santro AT the letters only light up if the headlights/twilight lights are on. That is what I meant when I said when I enter my basement parking even in daylight I need to switch on the headlights and look down at the lever to see my selection.

Around 2009/10 Honda had announced a 1.5 Jazz (i.e. City engine) which was believed to be a precursor to a Jazz AT. Then they backed out. It is possible thy reckon that the Jazz may be somewhat underpowered by putting an AT on the 1.2.

I will love to see an AT Jazz (either CVT or City/Civic five speed). Who knows with SIEL out of the way this may even happen.

Do you agree that it is unusual for a Honda product to attract so much discussion.

Guys, does current City come with those uber cool paddle shifters ?
Sorry I have no clue about automatics :)

Yes, the City AT does indeed come with paddle shifters

It's simply too expensive to develop an AT specially for the Indian market to plant into a diesel variant here. If they had one in their factories any where around the world, it would have been here by now!

The AT units in the Civic and the City are the same.

We have Chevy Beat Diesel. And Chevy, being American brand, must be having an AT box for all sizes. And let them first launch one and see if it would be a failure rather than assuming that it would be a failure. Time has come for AT cars in our maddening tarffic. Many will buy if AT is provided on diesel hatch. But people won't take to streets holding 'dharnas' demanding AT cars. Thay will buy if they have one. Manufacturers have to make that happen.

ok, so are there any small/hatch AT cars available in the European/American/Asian market which have a 1.2/1.3/1.4 Diesel engine ?

if yes, then can't it be brought to india ?

Honda's focus on the Brio and neglect of the Jazz actually makes perfect sense. The Jazz, fitted with the 1.5Litre engine, is regarded as one of the best small cars in the world. The level of engineering, refinement, and quality are of a very high level. But with a 1.2 litre engine, the Jazz is out of its optimum space, offering performance that can be had at much cheaper prices.

The jazz, even with the 1.2 engine, offers a very high standard of engineering for its price, but the engine's lack of grunt overwhelms that impression for most people, and no question that Honda's profit margins on the jazz are razor thin, if not actually negative.

With the Brio, honda gets to sell a car thats much cheaper to make than the jazz, that yields bigger per unit profits despite its lower price, and will generate much bigger volumes because of the lower price.

The Jazz is a bit of a misfit in the India market. This is not a market that considers it worthwhile paying premium prices for small cars on the recognition of their sophistication.

That means we have to be satisfied with the cheap and cheerful brio instead of the suave, polished jazz.

I would not bet against honda ceasing Jazz sales in India altogether were it not for Honda Japan's declaration that the Jazz is the model they are relying on to underpin its range in every important market. They'll keep it in the market.

I am going to guess that they are not discontinuing the jazz because they expect it to be a very hot seller with the diesel engine and they are content to sell a few hundred petrol units till the diesel arrives. If they were to kill the jazz now and then try to reintroduce it with a diesel, apart from the cost of ending and restarting production, the jazz would because tainted as a model that failed in the market and has been brought back for a second try.

I smell Brio S-AT to be priced at Rs.5.5 lacs(ex-showroom) to lure some of the Diesel hatchback buyers as well.
Ease of driving & clutch-less fatigue-free driving be its USP/Marketing gimmick to bring the Honda's hold on Indian auto market.