[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Any spyshots in India till now?

Safe to assume that the Jazz isn't being road - tested in India? Same was the case with the City as well. Also- has the Jazz been mated to the 1.5 diesel in any other international markets?

[i10]

Does the Jazz actually allow to fold the front passenger seat as shown in that pic?

[abhjain]

Any news of an AT yet?

[damager21]

Originally Posted by abhjain

Any news of an AT yet?

Jazz will come with 1.2L petrol engine offering both MT and AT. Most likely AT gearbox will be 5 speed automatic we see in Brio. In Thailand, 1.2L Brio comes with CVT so one cannot completely rule out Honda offering CVT with Jazz.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Any spyshots in India till now?

Safe to assume that the Jazz isn't being road - tested in India? Same was the case with the City as well. Also- has the Jazz been mated to the 1.5 diesel in any other international markets?

I think India is the only country where Jazz will be offered with Diesel engine. Japan, USA, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore all have Jazz with 1.3L / 1.5L petrol engine. The European version of Jazz which was recently unveiled, will also come with only 1.3L petrol engine and no diesel engine.

Originally Posted by i10

Does the Jazz actually allow to fold the front passenger seat as shown in that pic?

Yes. Honda offers what it calls Magic seats in Jazz. In this there are four modes of seating possible.
*Utility mode
*Tall mode
*Long mode
*Refresh mode

[Carpainter]

Will be an important car for the segment. I wish Honda's decision to take the car off the market a couple of years ago will not haunt its success. The interior looks uncanny similar to City. Hope there will be some differentiating factor between the two to keep the City higher in the premium market triangle.

[AshBabu]

I doubt very much whether ICE seen in picture will make it to India. There will be obvious cost cutting for Indian version in the interiors and features if Honda has to price the Jazz competitively.

[damager21]

Originally Posted by AshBabu

I doubt very much whether ICE seen in picture will make it to India. There will be obvious cost cutting for Indian version in the interiors and features if Honda has to price the Jazz competitively.

I believe this time around Honda will be chasing volumes from Jazz. It has set an internal target to sell 3 lakh units a year by March 2017. These numbers can be achieved only if it continues to bring new models to India, offer aggressive price and expand dealer network.

Aggressive price for Jazz would mean cost cutting as far as interiors and features of Jazz is concerned as compared to Honda City and global version of Jazz.

As rightly pointed by AshBabu, even I expect a more conventional ICE than what we see in City. The obvious feature to be axed would be touch screen AC controls which will be replaced by knobs. Touch screen entertainment system could be available only in top variant of Jazz. Slightly less premium plastic and finish is also a possibility. Besides 1.2 Litre engine will offer tax benefits which would be passed on.

No automaker offering premium hatch has dared to cross 5 lacs for the base price. Polo launched at 4.99 lacs and comes with ABS & Airbags. Punto, Elite i20, Swift, all less than 5 lacs. I think Jazz will be the first car to break that trend so I hope Honda manages to keep it launch price well below 5.5 lacs.

I expect Jazz to be launched in 4 petrol variants and 3 diesel variants
Petrol pricing could be
E - 5.45 lacs
S - 6.1 lacs
V - 6.85 lacs
V(AT) - 7.85 lacs

Diesel could be priced a lac above the respective petrol variant.

[carwatcher]

All I can say is that Honda has to do many things right to make Jazz a success. They have to keep each and every minute detail about i20 in mind as that is the only car which is a huge success story (partly due to Jazz pricing) but still going strong and in its Elite avatar looks very tough to beat. Elite selling in huge numbers also makes matter interesting. Honda can't compete on basis of brand value as otherwise why the Jazz flopped in first place. So it has to be price, features and then comes brand value. But yes the Elite has proved that there is a huge potential in premium hatchback segment by the success of Grand i10 and Elite i20.
I also want to see that any flop car can make a comeback or Honda should've changed the name of Jazz before relaunch as Fit or something else, case in point Aria, A-Star (Celerio). I have mentioned this as Honda is looking for volumes and not a niche segment, if they are not looking for volumes, they can launch it with any name for that matter.

[raptor3624]

I am just happy there is positive news(albeit rumours) of Jazz being launched in March 2015. There is no point in launching this car even later than March or May or whatever month if they dont get the pricing right given previous Jazz's history of pricing and current success of Elite i20.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by damager21

I expect Jazz to be launched in 4 petrol variants and 3 diesel variants
Petrol pricing could be
E - 5.45 lacs
S - 6.1 lacs
V - 6.85 lacs
V(AT) - 7.85 lacs

Diesel could be priced a lac above the respective petrol variant.

You mean to say that Jazz will be priced 1.6L less than the City for the base variants and almost two lakhs less than the top variants?

To acheive that pricing, they would really need to reduce the quality of the Jazz, which is already a weak point of the City. The cannot reduce prices by reducing the features list as there are no features to cut on the City E variant (except for ABS and airbags). Furthermore, Jazz is not cheaper to manufacture either, being costlier than the City in international markets. Only savings in India would be from the sub 4m excise slab.

If at all they manage to price it such- will the quality / features list be a match for the Elite i20 after such drastic cost cutting? While still being priced 50k - 80k more than the equivalent (but heavily loaded with features) i20 variants.

I think prices would be as below (Considering 1 lakh less than City)

Petrol
EMT- 6.2L
VAT- 8.9L

Diesel
EMT - 7.4L
VMT - 9.1L

[ampere]

With the way City has gone in terms of its quality, some how I dont get the same positive vibe with what we saw with the original Jazz. Of course thanks to pricing it was a flop show for Honda. But there in lies the problem. To improve sales, if one reduces barriers to quality, it just speaks of a different point of view. I would neither refute that argument nor say anything for it. But in my opinion it just speaks about a paradigm shift in Honda's thinking toward Indian market. Adding to it, Honda's decision to not bring in the Vezel, also substantiates the fact that they surely want to be in mass market with lower margins than a select market with higher margins.

[Gannu_1]

Here is the link for the global Honda Fit brochure - Honda Fit

Specs look mouthwatering but I am pretty sure the Indianised stripped down version would never receive the six airbags, 130 hp engine and the passenger-side ORVM camera. The cluster and steering wheel looks identical to the ones we have in the current City. Looks like a lot of parts in the engine bay will also be shared between the two. I liked the several seating layouts with the Magic seat; I guess this will be one of the USP’s of this car now that the i-DTEC engine is already popular with the Amaze, City and Mobilio.

I hope Honda doesn’t kill it with bad pricing and/or poor quality fit-and-finish. The City thread is a testament for the latter.

[AshBabu]

Originally Posted by carwatcher

I also want to see that any flop car can make a comeback or Honda should've changed the name of Jazz before relaunch as Fit or something else, case in point Aria, A-Star (Celerio). I have mentioned this as Honda is looking for volumes and not a niche segment, if they are not looking for volumes, they can launch it with any name for that matter.

It is going to be difficult choice for Honda on marketing strategy. As mentioned by carwatcher no flop car had made a strong come back in different avatars. Adding to the list is Ford Fiesta also, which again not selling in numbers after re-launch.

I think Honda has no intention to change the name. It will be interesting to watch whether their brand name can pull off a coup. One advantage I can see here is, Jazz was known to be good car except for the high price. When Honda slashed price, it was able to sell some numbers.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I liked the several seating layouts with the Magic seat; I guess this will be one of the USP’s of this car now that the i-DTEC engine is already popular with the Amaze, City and Mobilio.

Magic seats wont be on offer in the Indian market. This was conveyed during the Auto Expo 2014, IIRC.

Originally Posted by AshBabu

As mentioned by carwatcher no flop car had made a strong come back in different avatars.

No car? I can atleast think of two - the Maruti Versa (Succeeded by Eeco) and the Hyundai Getz (Succeeded by i20). But no one else understands the Indian market like MS does, and Hyundai really transformed their car in terms of quality!

I also think its a better idea to drop the 'Jazz' nameplate.

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by ampere

With the way City has gone in terms of its quality, some.....
.....
But in my opinion it just speaks about a paradigm shift in Honda's thinking toward Indian market.

If true, this paradigm shift couldn't have come at a worse time. If anything, Indians are becoming more quality conscious than ever, and IMHO, a lot more people are now willing to pay for a high-performance high-quality product.

It would be unfortunate if Honda's strategies are based on a product launch that failed years ago. Learn from you past, but please strategize for the future Honda. Please!