Honda Jazz
Maxabout Review
High On Price - Low On Features
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Overview - High Priced Jazz Is Losing Customers To Hyundai i20
The journey of the first generation Jazz started in 2001 with its debut launch in Japan. The car is now being sold in more than 115 countries across the Globe. The first generation Jazz set a benchmark by achieving cumulative sales of more than 2 million units. The truly acclaimed and the stunning performer Honda Jazz , in its Second generation avatar, has been launched finally in India but with a price tag starting from Rs. 7 lakhs the prospective buyers may go for the much more affordable and feature rich Hyundai i20.
Because of all many feature related drawbacks and high price tag the monthly sales of Jazz is declining day by day. Here are the actual sales figures in last few months-
- June: Above 2000 Units
- July: 1037 Units
- August: 1029 Units
- September: 504 Units
Design & Style Of Honda Jazz
Honda's Jazz is one of the cleverest superminis around. It's a thoroughly modern design that's innovative in its use of space, with remarkably good head and rear legroom, well specced, and fitted with frugal and characterful engines. It's at its best in town where it's both friendly and fun to drive. From the outside the brilliance of the Jazz is not immediately obvious. It has more than a hint of the MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) about it. Though the Honda Jazz is small, Honda's enviable reputation for refinement and reliability shine through clearly.
Take a little look at the exterior of the Honda Jazz and you will see just some of the great styling and body features that saw the Honda Jazz win the Japan Car of the Year in 2001 and 2002 - with a few updated twists here and there. The Exterior Design of Honda Jazz is stylish and embellish typical Honda design - sharp lines and central bonnet ridge. Sharp headlamps supplements the steeply raked windscreen but the front grille resembles the CR-V. Alloy wheels and ellipsoidal glass area decorates the Jazz side. Taillamp is the pure attraction as it blends with the rear.
Interiors Of Honda Jazz - Very Comfortable & Spacious
Get inside and the Jazz will easily accommodate five adults and their luggage. The interior Design of Honda Jazz is most likely to don a dashboard as impressive as that of the Civic. You sit quite high up in the Jazz, although a good range of seat and wheel adjustment makes it easy for most drivers to get comfortable and find good vision. The cabin is well planned and attractive, with big, easy-to-use buttons. The view forwards is similar to that found in a baby MPV. Steering wheel is fully adjustable and there's an excellent driving position, although the seats are a little firm. Good all-round visibility from the tall design and large glass areas. Attractive cabin with chunky switches and buttons in all the places you'd expect them. They're user-friendly, and intuitive to use.
Interior build quality is spot-on with quality materials used throughout. Panel fit is perfect and there are no suspicious rattles or squeaks. Jazz is one of the most desirable small cars on sale, thanks to its clever, spacious interior, frugal petrol engine, and Honda's reputation for reliability. The Jazz practicality has been enhanced with three mode “Magic Seat” configuration to achieve multiple seating and cargo-carrying configurations for long or tall objects in addition to the standard five-passenger mode.
Utility mode : Easy one-motion dive down and reverse operation of the rear seats. The luggage space can be extended to a maximum length of 1,720 mm thanks to the spacious full-flat floor.
Long mode : In Utility mode, place the passenger seat in the full reclining position to create a space up to 2,400 mm long to carry long objects.
Tall mode : Fold up the rear seat cushions to take advantage of Jazz’s 1,280 mm roof height—the perfect way to make space for tall items like house plants.
Engine Of Honda Jazz - Feel Under Powered
The Jazz has been launched in India with a 1.2 L i-VTEC engine which has been specially developed for the Indian Market. It reflects the company's commitment towards India and its continued focus on bringing in the latest global technology into the country. The engine has been exclusively researched and developed at the Honda R&D centre in Tochigi, Japan to suit Indian road & safety conditions. The revolutionary “Made for India” discovery offers a dual advantage of superior power and low fuel consumption. The future ready E10 compatible engine even ensures environment responsibility by matching Euro IV emission levels.
The new powertrain is a 4 cylinder 1198 cc engine featuring Programmed Fuel Injection delivering class-leading power of 89 Bhp at 6200 rpm and torque of 110 Nm at 4800 rpm while giving an impressive fuel economy of 16.1 km per litre as per ARAI test data. It is expected that Jazz will give mileage of around 13-14 kms per litre in city driving. Honda India has initially launched Jazz with 1.2 litre engine.
But they are also planning to launch another variant of Jazz with much more powerful 1.5 litre 118 Bhp engine which is currently available in Honda City. They may also introduce a automatic variant of Jazz with the launch of Jazz 1.5. But all this is going to push the price on the higher side in comparison to 1.2 litre Jazz which will further help in declining sales.
The advantage of the i-VTEC engine is that, it regulates the opening of air-fuel intake valves and exhaust valves in accordance with engine speeds. By regulating valve opening to match engine speed, the engine adjusts its characteristics to deliver both superior power and low fuel consumption.
Ride & Handling Of Honda Jazz
The Jazz chassis realizes both superior ride comfort and agile handling. The high rigidity body and supple suspension provide an exceptional dynamic performance. The car features a McPherson strut suspension in the front.
The H-shaped torsion beam rear suspension achieves the maximum possible space for the rear seats and cargo area as well as steady ride comfort and agile handling. The Electric Power Steering aids the driver to steer the car with less effort and gives better handling.
Most Distinctive & Innovative Features Of Honda Jazz:
1) Dual cooling fans - separate for engine and AC.
2) ABS - EBD with Brake Assist.
3) Magic Seats - provides versatile storage options.
4) Best in class wiper blades.
5) Increased visibility with front quarter glass and slim A-pillar.
6) Best in class boot space.
7) G-CON technology - helps in side and front crash impacts.
8) 10 cup holders.
9) Secret storage space underneath the rear seat.
Major Drawbacks Which Are Very Shocking At This Price:
1) No rear parcel tray.
2) No height adjustment for driver's seat.
3) No automatic climate control system.
4) No Alloys.
5) No fog lights.
6) No USB port in music system.
Safety Features Available In Honda Jazz
Safety of passengers and pedestrians is a top priority for Honda and all safety equipment is standard across all variants. The Honda Jazz comes fully loaded with various active and passive safety features including ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) with EBD (Electronic Brake-Force Distribution System), Dual SRS airbags and pre-tensioner seat belts. Honda’s Advanced Compatibility Engineering Body (ACE) & G-CON (G-Force Control Technology) provide a high integrity survival zone that enhances self-protection and better compatibility in collisions with other vehicles. Honda’s Pedestrian-injury reduction body design helps protect pedestrians from injury in the event of a collision.
Variants, Price & Shades Available In Honda Jazz
Honda has launched Jazz in India in 3 variants:
- Jazz
- Jazz Mode
- Jazz Active
Honda jazz prices starts from Rs. 6.98 Lakhs going up to Rs. 7.28 Lakhs for the Mode version and Rs. 7.33 Lakhs for the top end Active. These prices are ex-showroom New Delhi. All Jazz variants come standard with dual front air bags, dash integrated MP3/CD sound system with steering mounted controls and ABS + EBD.
Honda Jazz is available in 6 shades:
- Sherbet Blue
- Habanero Red
- Alabaster Silver
- Tafeta White
- Crystal Black Pearl
- Deep Sapphire Blue