CHENNAI: The third avatar of the Honda Jazz has just hit the road, exclusively for the Indian market. And the updated version sports several firsts. Launched in Chennai on Tuesday, the most striking aspect of the Jazz’s newest avatar is the automatic CVT transmission coupled with a Paddle Shift technology.
While the Continously Variable Transmission with a paddle shift is available only in the petrol variant of the 3rd Gen Jazz, the introduction is a first for the premium hatchback segment. “This is a first for the segment. We have always wanted to provide our customers with a new and quality experience, in every single model,” said Katsushi Inoue, president and CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd. The CVT with paddle shift is not the only plus point that the Jazz comes with, it also debuts with a 1.5 L i-DTEC diesel engine for the Indian market and an advertised 27.3 km per litre fuel economy for the same. This puts it on the upper end in fuel economy compared to most of its competitors.
The new Jazz’s price however puts it firmly in the premium hatchback segment — retailing at Rs 5.40 lakh for the basic petrol variant and ranging all the way to Rs 8.75 lakh for the top end diesel one. But Honda is confident that it will prove to be one of the four pillars of Honda’s India strategy along with the City, Amaze and the Mobilio.
The Jazz is equipped with Auto AC tech accessed by a touchscreen panel, buttoned steering wheels with controls for audio and handsfree and a rear parking camera with multiple views. The top variant also has an integrated 15.7 cm touch screen Audio Visual Navigation (AVN) system and a ‘Magic Seat’ with four modes.