Honda Jazz India launch advanced

[NAREN]

Honda Jazz India launch advanced

Honda's maiden small car, named Jazz, will be rolled out in India by mid-2009. Honda Siel Cars India has decided on the tentative date following the realization that the small car segment in the domestic automobile sector has been seeing an unprecedented boom. The company is expected to price the vehicle at around Rs 5.5 lakh.

Honda has already started displaying the Honda Jazz at select showrooms. It would be difficult to decide which class the car belongs to size-wise - Jazz is quite bigger than a Skoda Fabia externally, almost the same size as one would expect a Honda City hatchback to be. Now that the new third generation Honda City has been officially launched in India at the very top end of the mid-size class, the Jazz may take its place which the current Honda City would vacate in Honda's line-up in India.



The Honda Jazz is very snazzy to look at, especially in red. And it is much bigger than you can make out from the photos.

The Jazz, which was earlier planned to be rolled out of the proposed Honda plant in Tapukara , will now be made at its mother plant at Greater Noida. The enthusiasm in the market for small cars was evident when the Jazz was showcased at the Auto Expo in New Delhi early this year. The decision to advance the date of launch has come about following this. Jazz was scheduled for an exclusive launch from the Tapukara plant but the company  changed it to aid market conditions.

Available worldwide in three different variants, namely GLi, VTi and for those who demand the complete package, the Jazz VTi-S, the Jazz has been a widely acclaimed small car.  The company has further stated that Jazz does its part for a cleaner, greener world with Euro 4 compliant emissions, advanced technology for cleaner exhausts, and heaps of recyclable parts. The aerodynamic shape, innovative engine design and light, high-tensile steel make the Jazz an efficient machine, it claims.



Honda Siel produces the flagship City, Civic and Accord sedans from its Greater Noida plant whose capacity was recently increased to 1 lakh units per annum. It is expected that the plant would the Honda City mode and the Jazz in a 60-40 ratio from the plant. Meanwhile, the Tapukara plant will take a while before being commissioned. It is expected to boast of a capacity of 60,000 units per annum. In all probability it would go on stream by end of year 2009.

According to Honda top brass, the taxation structure in India today has spurred great demand for small cars. The company is looking to make full use of this potential with the Jazz. It expects to cash in on the festive season and if that is to happen it has to launch the car by mid next year.