Honda To Delay EV Rollout in India, Focus on Hybrid With Upcoming Jazz Hatch

As we have already informed you, Honda is working on a new model of their Jazz hatch and the new model of the car will be presented in front of the public at 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, which is scheduled to happen in October. As far as the India launch is concerned, it can take place sometime in 2020. The company will take the hybrid route with the Jazz hatch, this shows that the brand is delaying the rollout of its all-electric vehicles in the Indian market because of the lack of a proper working infrastructure for the same in the country. 

Takahiro Hachigo, the president and representative director of Honda spoke to a leading media house and stated,

We have set a goal to electrify two-thirds of our global automobile unit sales by 2030. In light of the required infrastructure and how people use automobiles, we believe hybrid technology is, at present, the most effective way for us to comply with CAFÉ (corporate average fuel economy) standards. Therefore, we will electrify our products mainly with hybrids. To this end Honda will expand the use of its iMMD (intelligent multi-mode drive) to our entire line up. In addition to the use of this technology in mid and large sized vehicles, we developed a new more compact iMMD for smaller sizes. This technology will be adapted by the all-new Fit, which will be the exhibited at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The upcoming model of Honda Jazz has already been spied several times. changes. The new model of Jazz will be 35 mm long as compared to the current generation model in the Indian market and will stand 3,990 mm long. Apart from the length, the width of the car will also increase to keep it proportionate. The changes on the new Jazz will be both on the inside as well as the outside. The changes on the exterior of the car will include projector headlamps with LED DRLs, something similar to what we have seen on the Amaze sub compact sedan and City sedan sold in India. The new Jazz will be the fourth generation model and is also known as the Fit in several international markets. The increased width will offer more room inside the hatch. The increase in length will also mean increase in boot space of the hatch.

The Honda Jazz will also come to India in a hybrid avatar and there are hopes that the premium hatchback will come with the i-MMD dual-motor hybrid power system, something similar to what is seen on Accord and HR-V in global markets. Honda already offers the hybrid version of Jazz in international markets and the Japanese test cycle puts its mileage at 37 kmpl.