The 2020 BS6 Honda Jazz will be released as a petrol only model
The facelifted Jazz will no more have a diesel variant in its arsenal, and the facelift seems to be a more cosmetic one
Honda India has decided to launch the BS6 avatar of the Jazz in the petrol form only, and this is not particularly surprising. Just recently Honda killed off the diesel variant of the CR-V, and it seems that Honda is doing a little bit of re-organising with their range of cars. Upgrading a BS4 diesel vehicle to the BS6 norms is not cheap, and the automaker needs to be sure that the model receiving the BS6 bump up has a future.
It seems like the CR-V and Jazz are not bringing in much sales in their diesel forms, because of which those variants have been discontinued. This is smart on Honda’s part, it is better to provide those models with a diesel BS6 engine, which actually return good sales, vehicles like the WR-V and Amaze have continually sold a decent amount of units, because of which, Honda has decided to upgrade their diesel engines to the BS6 norms.
The Honda Jazz has been in the Indian markets since 2015, and it has been seen that most of the sales that it has garnered are sales of its ‘petrol’ powertrain, and due to this clear customer preference, Honda decided to bid adieu to its diesel variant. Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Honda Cars India LTD, Rajesh Goel goes onto explain that 80% of the sales received are sales for petrol based vehicles, and only 20% sales amount to diesel sales.
Furthermore he speaks about their diesel vehicles, being placed in segments where the customer demands it, for example, Honda’s WR-V and Amaze have diesel powered models which have returned good numbers and hence, Honda India will continue to offer both these models with the petrol and diesel option in the coming future.
The Jazz has been up for a facelift for quite some time, and finally Honda has updated and upgraded it in some aspects. The upgrade comes in the form of the 1.2 petrol engine becoming BS6 compliant, expect the numbers of the BS6 1.2 litre to be quite similar to that of its BS4 counterpart. Apart from the upgrade, the 2020 Jazz receives a few minor cosmetic upgrades, from the teased images it can be seen that the BS6 Jazz sports new all LED headlamps, fog lamps, tail lamps, inclusion of more chrome on the body and new alloy wheels.
Talking about the engine, the BS4 1.2 litre NA-iVTEC petrol engine produced 99 hp with 110 nm of torque, and this engine was coupled either with a 5 speed manual or a CVT transmission. The BS6 version of the 1.2 litre petrol engine should not be very different in terms of power and torque. The discontinued diesel variant was a 1.5 litre which also made 99 ps but due to low sales, this engine variant has been discontinued.
The BS6 Jazz was supposed to release soon, but due to the Coronavirus crisis, the launch has been indefinitely postponed. Once the lockdown is relaxed, and industries and dealerships open, only then would Honda launch the new Jazz. Once the BS6 Jazz releases, Honda will launch the BS6 WR-V and Honda City as well.
Positioned as Honda’s premium hatchback, once launched, the Jazz will take on Maruti’s Baleno, Hyundai i20, Toyota Glanza and Tata’s new Altroz. Hyundai is supposed to launch the new generation i20 in the coming months, and Hyundai is looking to re gain the laurel of being the segment leader with it. The Jazz has some tough competition, but the space and roominess its cabin offers acts as a USP (unique selling point) for it, which might just sway customers towards it.
