Honda has announced that it will unveil the next generation Jazz in November at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. This car will be built on a new platform and take many of its design cues from the compact SUV that was unveiled at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show in January. The platform is also expected to spawn a sedan as well. These three vehicles will sit directly above the Brio platform cars in the Honda hierarchy.
Known as the Fit in many foreign markets, the 2014 Honda Jazz will remain the same length but the wheelbase is expected to increase in a bid to increase the already spacious. While the front is expected to remain pretty similar to the Urban SUV concept, the rear end is expected to get different tail lamps as well as increased boot space. The current Jazz boot is already as large as the Maruti Dzire’s, so that means even more practicality for the Jazz owner.
In terms of engines, the Jazz is expected to continue with the 1.2-litre petrol mill and will now have a diesel version powered by the 1.5-litre mill that will make its Indian debut in the Amaze sedan. This engine has been derived from the 1.6-litre Earth Dreams mill and is good for around 90bhp, but we expect it in a slightly milder state of tune for the Indian market.
Honda has said that it sees potential for its global compact series of cars within the next few years and is banking heavily on them for a major chunk of its sales. It is currently building a plant in Mexico and will export cars to countries in North America and South America from there. For the Asian markets it is expected to utilise the Brio platform in the same manner.