Get ready for the" JAZZ". Review on Honda Jazz

Honda has been a major market player in premium and mid segment cars. Needless to say CITY, Accord and Civic, all of them have done well and enjoy good portion of the market pie.

Recent economic recession has changed things a lot .Now long suffering automobile companies have decided to change the strategies to woo customers with smaller cars, bigger discounts, aggrieve design and with the promise of better after sales services. Jazz was scheduled for 2010 launch. But the changed market dynamics prompted Honda to launch its so called” small car” JAZZ little early(10th June is the exact date!).

Now coming to the point, Honda’s first small car JAZZ has been a bestseller car in European market where 1200 cc model known as FIT and 1400cc model as JAZZ. What we are going to have here India is only 1200cc model. This engine has been developed on the same platform what Honda uses in CITY and Accord(i.e. iVTEC).it is very responsive and gives enough kick right from the moment you turn on the ignition. Talking about the design, front looks very aerodynamic, though angular curves makes it look little muscular. Not much of chrome on front grill, but that’s OK as grill is comparatively small and a big Honda logo some how hides its necessity. Side face is very similar to its older sibling Honda city and so as rear. What attracts is the tail lamp! Very innovative and different design. Most of the car companies don’t really give much of a brain while designing the rear lamps and that’s where JAZZ scores. Now the interiors. Again dashboard is very attractive, will remind you of the screen you see while playing racing games on a play station. Central console is very stylish and contemporary. Fuel gauge, tachometer and Speedometer all are in sync and sort of fusion of retro and modern day design. What lacks here is the dual tone finish.! Seats are comfortable, wide and can accommodate 5 including driver. Adjustable steering and provision of “small packets” around seats and dashboard comes handy. Talking about boot space(cargo), its pretty huge though doesn’t appear so from outside.

Overall JAZZ is a very interesting car, ideal for city drive, great maneuverability, good mileage(around 12-14kmpl) and offcourse brand Honda is good enough to assure about the overall quality. Those who are interested in figures, here it is:

Name JAZZ(in Europe FIT)

CC: 1200

Power: 67 BHP

Drive: 5 speed manual

Price has yet not been fixed, as Honda is working on it. It is expected to fall somewhere around 5.50 to 6 lacs. This is the only problem I see with this car. It will be interesting to see how market reacts as this time around Honda is a late entrant and players like Maruti SWIFT and Hyundai i20 is doing well in the segment.

In any case, those who are planning to buy a car should wait for a couple of months as it certainly deserves a look.