[volkman10]

End of the road for Honda Jazz in India?

Honda likely to replace Jazz with the City Hatchback. Latest market being Malaysia.

Will it be the same with India or will the JAZZ be replaced with CUV/SUV's like the ZR-V and HR-V's and skip the City Hatchback ?

Looks like Jazz will be axed in India either ways like other markets, that do not get the Jazz (4G)

Malaysia confirmed to end Honda Jazz with City Hatchback

Honda Malaysia didn’t have much say in this, neither did their counterparts in Thailand, or the rest of South East Asia.

the decision to terminate the Jazz’s lineage in this part of the world is part of wider product rationalization exercise undertaken by Honda’s headquarters in Aoyama, Tokyo.

All markets in the Asia-Oceania region, including Australia and New Zealand, both of which sell very few Honda cars anyway, will drop the Jazz in favour of the City Hatchback


Link

[volkman10]

Finer details of the City Hatchback revealed in Thailand:

- Ground Clearance: 135 mm
- Fuel tank capacity 40 liters

Compared to the original Jazz City HATCHBACK, it is 314 mm longer, 53 mm wider, 37 mm shorter, and 59 mm longer wheelbase.

- EPS electric power steering
- Rear suspension Torsion Beam

- 4-way adjustable steering wheel (up-down-in-out)
- Paddle Shift steering gear control system
- 4 electric windows, automatic adjustment up-down on the driver's side
- 6-way manual adjustable driver's seat
- Rear seat, independent folding, 60: 40, ULTRA SEAT type

Utility Mode Adjustable seat folds flat Can put stuff in full area
Long Mode Front seats recline, connect the rear seats, put long items
Tall Mode The back cushion is raised to put things in a high position.
Refresh Mode The front seats recline, connected to the rear seats

- 8-inch Advanced Touch audio screen
- Support Apple Car Play / Android Auto system.
- 2 front airbags
- 2 side airbags
- Airbag curtain 2 positions















































Link

[Aditya]

Honda City hatchback to replace Jazz in Asia-Oceania region - Posts moved to a new thread.

[Vid6639]

This is an ideal car for Honda for many reasons. They can open up a new segment with this for premium hatchbacks.

The sub 4m hatches are good but end of the day they are built to a price and have compromises due to the restriction in size.

The C2 sedan sales are falling due to the crossovers.

Honda can easily get a premium hatch like this and price it on par with the sub 4m crossovers i.e. 10-12L and create a segment for which nobody will have competition in for a long while.

It's like what the Polo did in creating a premium hatch way back in 2009.

Slap on the new 1.0L turbo petrol and you have a proper fun to drive hot hatch for around the price of a fully loaded Venue, Ecosport, Sonet.

They have to try something new and this is a segment that is completely missing in India.

We don't get a Fiesta hatch, new larger Polo hatch, Yaris hatch, Vauxhall corsa, Renault Clio, Skoda Scala/Fabia here and this is one of the largest segments internationally. We are completely missing this segment and no manufacturer has dared to try.

Honda is perfectly poised to open up a new segment if they open their eyes and dare to try something new.

[Turbohead]

I think we need the City hatchback with the 1.5l engine here. I wish they give importance to quality and give a more sporty character with respect to ride and handling.

If the i20 can be priced at 13 lakhs, there's no reason why the City hatchback can be sold at similar prices considering the base model City sedan starts around the same price.

If they do so, I'm pretty sure Honda will end up giving a product with lots of space in the cabin, which is a major USP today considering how cramped the Venue, Sonet etc is.

[SnS_12]

Since this is longer than the Jazz how will Honda price it competitively against competition in India who have the tax benefit of cars which are less than 4 meters in length. And even if it gets the 1.5 vtec (which is highly doubtful) how will it make sense over the city?

[landcruiser123]

It'll be a risky move no doubt, but I think Honda should launch the car and phase out the older Jazz. This car can definitely fill the gap between the Amaze & the City while also competing with the Creta with a 'cross' version.

The taste of the Indian customer has changed - where the Chevy Optra SRV failed, the City hatchback can succeed. Of course, it is backed by brand Honda.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

It's like what the Polo did in creating a premium hatch way back in 2009.

Didn't the Getz create the premium hatchback segment in 2005? At 6 lakhs, it was very expensive for the top variant. You could have got a base Innova for just a little bit more back in the day.

We don't get a Fiesta hatch, new larger Polo hatch, Yaris hatch, Vauxhall corsa, Renault Clio, Skoda Scala/Fabia here and this is one of the largest segments internationally.

Add the Hyundai i30 to the list

Honda is perfectly poised to open up a new segment if they open their eyes and dare to try something new.

Honda shouldn't screw up on this like how they messed up their Civic and CR-V launches.

[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Since this is longer than the Jazz how will Honda price it competitively against competition in India who have the tax benefit of cars which are less than 4 meters in length.

The expectation is that Honda launches it above the sub 4m hatchbacks thus creating a segment of it's own that would go against the premium end of the CSUV space.
For example, a Kia Sonet GTX+ 1.5 AT Dual tone costs north of INR 16 lacs OTR before accessories, here in Bangalore. Surely Honda can fill that space (13-15L OTR) with this premium hatchback!

And even if it gets the 1.5 vtec (which is highly doubtful) how will it make sense over the city?

Well, variant-variant this will be a tad cheaper than the City for sure and, shorter as well which is helpful in crowded cities like Bangalore. It might also be a good exercise to debut the the 1.0, 3-pot engine with RS branding.

[pineapple_ameet]

Hope they don't end up swelling up suspension and sell it as 'Active' Model...that's just not done as seen in the past.

[giri1.8]

What they need is a good crossover with diesel CVT option. This might be too close to the city in terms of pricing, hence might not make sense to launch it here.

Jazz failed due to optimistic pricing, this might take it even further north.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Didn't the Getz create the premium hatchback segment in 2005? At 6 lakhs, it was very expensive for the top variant. You could have got a base Innova for just a little bit more back in the day.
Add the Hyundai i30 to the list
Honda shouldn't screw up on this like how they messed up their Civic and CR-V launches.

Yes I missed the Getz. Getz was ahead of it's time and laid the foundation for the i20.

As you can see the hatchbacks have been going up and off late they have saturated at the i20 and Baleno.

The City hatch can change this. The C2 sedan is nowhere where it used to be in volumes.

And Honda need to think like Kia and Hyundai. If the City hatch and sedan sell alongside and there is cross shopping between the 2, its fine cause overall volumes are still within Honda.

You don't want a City customer going to Hyundai for Verna or Skoda/VW Vento/Rapid when they can get the hatchback version as turbo petrol and let the sedan stick to the 1.5L NA.

[petrol_power]

I fear if Honda tries to kick start the large hatch segment, it may kill the segment altogether by making other companies lose confidence in this segment

First of all, Honda will slap that old 1.5 L NA engine, which probably was designed before I was born. The engine may have been the king of olden days, but not any more. It cannot compete with the 1.2 TSI from Polo or most of the new Turbo petrols.
Second they will put their usual CVT stuff.

1.5 L + CVT is good for a middle aged executive who can afford a Honda city sedan.

Now for a hatchback in the price range of 17~18 lacs, the mindset of audience is totally different. Honda India is not capable of giving a right solution.

I still remember in 2015 when I decided to move from my diesel manual Verna to a hatch, I was very clear that it should have decent power and it should have Automatic. Even though Punto Abarth was available, I didnt even test drive it as it didn't have any automatic. I took GT TSI, which would have been definitely Abarth Punto had it been made with an Auto box. Fiat simply failed to understand the requirement of their target customer.

I strongly believe that 4.3mtr hatch should have some USPs to pull a crowd (from the strong SUV brand pull and from executive sedans). Dimension-wise, 4.3 mtr hatch doesn't have any advantage over sedan, Design-wise SUVs are better these days(eg: Thar). So I feel creating the 4.3 mtr hatch as a young sporty car suitable for those who are young at heart (or really young with a large disposable income) would be the ideal scenario, which Honda India cannot do due to the lack of available options.

[YD14]

Originally Posted by Porschefire

The expectation is that Honda launches it above the sub 4m hatchbacks thus creating a segment of it's own that would go against the premium end of the CSUV space.

Surely Honda can fill that space (13-15L OTR) with this premium hatchback.

Not a completely new car in my opinion.Isn't
S-Cross a non-sub 4m hatchback? Just raising the height of a hatchback does not make it a SUV.

S-Cross too is 4.3m long and a rare well built Maruti. So I don't think Honda will have a problem pricing it in 12-15L bracket or even a lakh lower.

Originally Posted by petrol_power

I strongly believe that 4.3mtr hatch should have some USPs to pull a crowd (from the strong SUV brand pull and from executive sedans). Dimension-wise, 4.3 mtr hatch doesn't have any advantage over sedan, Design-wise SUVs are better these days(eg: Thar). So I feel creating the 4.3 mtr hatch as a young sporty car suitable for those who are young at heart (or really young with a large disposable income) would be the ideal scenario, which Honda India cannot do due to the lack of available options.

+1 on that. This is why I belive S-Cross is not doing good enough and killing any prospect of larger hatchbacks in India. Just think about a buyer in market with 14L in his pocket. If he chooses Sonet or Venue above S-Cross alpha automatic variant, he gets a powerful 1.0l turbo petrol with an awesome DCT, a whole lot more features and a false satisfaction of owning a SUV.

[Carz77]

I think Honda is pretty slow in responding to the Indian market. This "City" based hatch will not work here, mainly because it will be priced higher compared to the current Jazz / WRV and typical customers want to upgrade to SUV kind of cars when they are paying 12-15 L (my opinion).

I think Honda should immediately focus on:
1) Plonk a Turbo engine (1L) into Jazz or WRV so that it can compete with sub 4M SUVs
2) Bring HRV and price it sensibly so that it can compete with Creta / Seltos

[Maverick Avi]

Did I actually read ground clearance as 135mm or is it a typo? I would think thrice before buying anything below 150mm of GC in India. I sincerely hope Hinda already know that and tweak this to something above 160mm.