The Honda Jazz B+ segment hatchback will soom be launched in India, and official details of the car’s launch are now out. Honda Cars India, through a teaser on Twitter, has revealed that the car will be launched in the month of July, putting the long wait to an end. Rumours on the interweb suggest that the 8th of July would be when the new Jazz would bow into India. In its third generation worldwide and its second generation in India, the Jazz will now get multiple engine options. The 1.5 liter i-DTEC turbo diesel motor is likely to be a major draw on this car.
The other engine option will be the 1.2 liter i-VTEC petrol motor that is also found on the likes of the Brio and the Amaze. Although Honda has already started exporting the made-in-India Jazz to South Africa, replete with the 1.5 liter i-VTEC petrol motor (117 Bhp-145 Nm), this motor will not be offered on the India-spec variant. The reason isn’t hard to fathom. Cars such as the Jazz, which measure under 4 meters in length, need to cap their petrol and diesel engine capacities to 1.2 liters and 1.5 liters respectively, if they intend to claim duty benefits.
So, Honda seems intent on pricing the Jazz well by slotting the car into the sub-4 meter excise duty category. A high amount of localization is another measure that hints at a sharp price tag for the new premium hatchback. Transmission options will include 5 speed manual gearboxes on both the petrol and diesel motors, with a CVT automatic option served up on the petrol engine. The Jazz will be built at Honda’s Greater Noida factory. Deliveries are likely to begin from June itself, with bookings expected to commence shortly. Expect prices to start from close to the 5 lakh rupee mark for the base variant of the car.