Honda Jazz Hybrid to launch in India next year

India’s first-premium hatchback – Honda Jazz has been around for a long time now. It made its comeback to the Indian market after it was discontinued for a while. Honda is working on an all-new four-generation Jazz and it will be showcased at 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, which is scheduled to happen in October. The all-new car is expected to be launched in India in 2020.

The all-new Honda Jazz, which is also known as the Honda Fit in various international markets will be unveiled on 24th October. The car is expected to retain its overall silhouette that will also keep its identity intact. However, it will get a new design, a new front-end design that will make it look much more modern and will ensure its similarity with the other Honda products that have already been updated to the brand’s latest design language.

Earlier, spy pictures of all-new Honda Jazz testing under heavy camouflage confirmed the shape of the vehicle. Honda will incorporate a sleek grille at the front with sleek headlamps that form an extended part of the grille itself. The next-generation Honda Jazz is also expected to get all-new tail lamps that are most likely to be powered by LED.

Honda will continue to offer oodles of space on the inside just like the current version of the car. A few glimpses of the car’s interior show the glimpses of the new dashboard with the all-new infotainment system that is now positioned as a floating console, which has become a trend in all the modern cars. The all-new Jazz is also expected to get a fully digital instrument cluster but the feature is expected to be offered only with the top trim level of the car.

Since India will soon get the stricter BS-VI emission norms, all the small diesel engines are likely to be culled from the market due to the development cost and price of low-capacity engines that will increase the overall cost of the car. To replace the diesel engines, which highly fuel efficient, manufacturers are taking the hybrid route. Interestingly, Honda will also use the Hybrid System in the next-generation Jazz and will bring it to India too. The all-new Jazz will get powered by the i-MMD dual-motor hybrid power system apart from petrol only version. The Jazz will get the hybrid system derived from the Accord and CR-V hybrid. The similar hybrid system also powers the Honda HR-V in the international markets.

Since it is an all-new powertrain, Honda has not said much about it. However, the next-generation Jazz is likely to get powered by a 1.5-litre petrol engine. It should be noted that Honda already offers a hybrid system with the current version of the Jazz/Fit and it delivers a maximum of 37 km/l according to the Japanese test cycle.