[Redline6800]

Honda has removed the Jazz and Civic from its website, signaling the (expected) end of the road for the two cars. While the Jazz never quite recovered from Honda's overoptimistic pricing, the Civic was a success when launched in 2006. The new City's arrival (offering 90% of the Civic at 75% of the price), lack of a diesel engine and more modern competition eventually sealed its fate. The removal of both cars from its website comes at the same time as Honda's first diesel - the Amaze - has been added.

The next-generation Civic has been launched internationally and it's telling that Honda hasn't chosen to bring the car here. The company knows that, without a diesel engine, the new Civic won't be getting anywhere too soon.

Honda Civic sales
September 2012 - February 2013 : 47, 60, 72, 70, 53, 21

Honda Jazz sales
September 2012 - February 2013 : 556, 306, 186, 365, 61, 185



Despite the market's shift towards diesel, the City still brings in good numbers, while the Brio has been steadily picking up (cumulative sales of 6,187 units in Feb 2013).

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!

[e2p]

Satisfying an Indian car buyer is a tough job in itself. Add competition from the market, it becomes even tougher. Honda was once a 'we sell premium cars only' brand in India. A little bit of arrogance in the case of Jazz - overpriced and never recovered even with proce reduction later, Civic - no diesel Mill. Truly amazing products though.

Now Honda offers hatchback (still premium!) and diesel engine. Good that they woke up from the long sleep.

City on the other hand is a refined petrol car, which did not face any major threat from the market until recent times. And now with the launch of Amaze, I hope, what happened to Civic may not happen to City, unless Honda launches the diesel in City at the earliest. I know from the forum that this is going to happen very soon.

[ambadan]

I could still see civic under

http://www.hondacarindia.com/ownahonda/pricelist.aspx

but Jazz is not there.

[kaviprem]

Is it the right time to buy "Civic" with good dealer [or company] discount to clear off the existing ones ? Just a wild thought, I would never go for a "road scrapper" from a high/heavy [TATA] vehicle

Prem.

[vasanthn21]

Jazz is a real sad story. Somehow cannot help feeling sad for it.

A special car with a great packaging and superb utility, doomed by improper market analysis of Honda. Had they done the price-cut immediately after lunch, may be it would have been successful.

Till date, I havent heard a single negative remark about Jazz other than the pricing bit!

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by Redline6800

The new City's arrival (offering 90% of the Civic at 75% of the price), lack of a diesel engine and more modern competition eventually sealed its fate.

I hope Amaze offering 90% of City at 75% of price doesn't seal the fate of City. It will be too bad then, because it is the best looking sedan after Verna.

And I feel too bad for Civic. It was all the rage in '06 when it was launched. Heck, at that time it even looked better than Beemers/Audis and even its own big bro Accord. Funny how perceptions change. I think it is the last of the low-riders. I always wondered how this car drove over our huge spead-breakers.

[NPV]

The market shifting towards diesels has finally made Honda take notice and move. With the Jazz and Civic gone, for now, they're betting big time on Brio and it's larger brother Amaze to bring in the big numbers, hope this plan works. Hope they're also working on the Diesel engines for the Civic and Accord as well while they test the waters with the smaller cars.

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Had they done the price-cut immediately after lunch, may be it would have been successful.

Definitely seems like the Jazz pricing decision was made when the execs were feeling energetic and on top of the world. They should have done it after lunch when they may have been in a better frame of mind , just kidding!

[pyrodrive]

Sad to see the civic go.It was an iconic car with great looks.Maybe it was ageing..But D1 segment cars were not exactly flying off the shelf anyway.Hope to see a new civic with a diesel mill sometime soon.
Jazz was one of the best hatches in India.But selling so few units regularly wasnt helping honda at all,plus the amaze will probably sit in its price bracket anyway.

[symphony_civi]

Honda dealers has started taking bookings for an amount of Rs 21,000 (refundable) and is currently promising a 30-day delivery period as per AutocarIndia website.

30 days delivery period for a new car and too by Honda which will debut its first diesel engine might get this amazing Amaze on the path of Jazz. Swift Dzire and other diesel sedans are at present readily (or in a week time) available. These are tried, tested and quite famous in the market.

Originally Posted by pgsagar

And I feel too bad for Civic. It was all the rage in '06 when it was launched. Heck, at that time it even looked better than Beemers/Audis and even its own big bro Accord. Funny how perceptions change. I think it is the last of the low-riders. I always wondered how this car drove over our huge spead-breakers.

Indeed Civic was a rage at that time, everybody desired this car like at present people desire for Audi. The Honda management failed to understand the common Indian customer and even the riches too. Honda itself killed its products !
Jazz gone, Civic going soon, Accord sales down, New CRV not liked by diesel loving generation, Brio looks too odd for most of middle-class. Lets see what this Amaze will do with company claiming an average of 25+kmpl. India loves "kitna deti hai" philosophy and this is the best part of this new product.

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by NPV

Definitely seems like the Jazz pricing decision was made when the execs were feeling energetic and on top of the world. They should have done it after lunch when they may have been in a better frame of mind , just kidding!

Hope they do not repeat this mistake with Amaze. Pricing is extremely critical for this product in a market where there are a lot of options now in the Diesel Sedan in the 7-8 Lakhs ex-showroom range.

[coolkurt]

The Civic was and is still an iconic Car. I love my Civic and I feel the 2006 model still has that classy design which was somehow lost in the New models. I hope they launch the 2013 facelift version here, rather than the Asian 2012 version. Time will tell. They could have launched the petrol imo, if they could get the petrol CRV, why not the Civic? Still confused Honda?

As for my Civic, it's been 6 years and counting..still a stellar car..planning my own 'facelift' soon, so there will be a thread on that ..it's still a head Turner and I guess I will stick to it for 4-5 years..A diesel mill isn't my calling and there simply isn't something in petrol which excites me in this segment.

Honda will surely provide support for 4 years atleast so am not worried. To all those, who are looking to get a 2nd hand civic, now is the time

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

I always wondered how this car drove over our huge spead-breakers.

It drives perfectly well, in my last 1 year + of ownership i might have scrapped probably less than 6 times, and that too on really large brakers and when car is full. Otherwise it has not been a pain point so far.

Originally Posted by kaviprem

Is it the right time to buy "Civic" with good dealer [or company] discount to clear off the existing ones ?

It depends, but if i was not having Civic i wouldnt buy it now. I am aware that the car would be supported for next 10 years but my experience has been as the years go by it takes more time to source parts.

Although i must add, i love my Civic and i do not think i would sell it for next 10 years. In my view, Honda should get the new gen Civic to India. Accord is too big and expensive, and City is small. They need something in between City and Accord, and at this moment only Civic can fill that gap.

[ACM]

Both were and are great vehicles, the lack of a diesel and pricing sealed their fate over time. I had really salivated over buying a new civic and then the mind moved on to a preowned Accord and finally decided on a peowned Laura. The Civic though remains a super reliable vehicle and its looks both on the exterior and interior are class leading. The mid life or rather end life facelift and price proposition vs the other offerings in the market shorterned it's life. The Civic is also a case to point where a sharp radical look ages faster than a more conservative look like that of the Corolla Altis which is still in business (though only just and thanks to a Diesel boost). But in general radical looks like that of the Civic, Beat etc stop exciting people after a period. Wonder if Ford Eco-Sport runs the same risk or is it an eternal snape - time will tell.

Hope Honda is able to get a Civic with a Diesel back to India. Both Civic and Jazz make for great perowned vehicles and are very reliable, though in time the cost of spares may rise - yet they should be available for quite a while through either the offical or unoffical sources having sold a fair bit globally.

[Santoshbhat]

Really sad to see two great products getting axed for no fault of theirs. Both cars were really benchmark products in their respective segments. The Jazz never sold because of its high price, but the Civic was once a best seller in the D1 segment.

Is it only the lack of a diesel heart that killed the civic? Honda manages to sell decent numbers of the City with just a petrol option. Moving up a segment one would think that higher running costs should not worry the car owner. But in India it seems a 'Diesel engine' is perceived as a luxury commodity. Something the Mercs and BMW have . When I bought the Laura with a petrol engine, people were like "You paid so much for a petrol car!"