2014 Honda Jazz confirmed for July

The third-generation of Honda’s Jazz light hatch will arrive in local showrooms from July, as confirmed by the Japanese brand’s local Director, Stephen Collins this week.

Revealed in Japan last July as the Japanese-market Fit, the new model continues to be produced in both petrol and hybrid versions, and Australian models are set to continue to offer both drivetrain options.

“It will come, it’s just a matter of timing and where we can source it from,” Mr Collins says.

Like the existing Jazz Hybrid, the new petrol-electric version is currently only produced in Japan, unlike Australian petrol-only models which will continue to be sourced from Thailand.

In Japan, the hybrid model currently makes up approximately 80 per cent of Fit sales, which contrasts with the Australian Jazz Hybrid’s small proportion of total Jazz volume since the petrol-electric version’s late arrival in February 2013.

In April, the Hybrid constituted fewer than 70 of the Jazzes’ 1534 total sales, which Mr Collins  admits is a greater proportion than usual due to all existing Jazz variants being in runout mode.

The plan to continue with a Jazz Hybrid contrasts with Honda's local plans for the new Jazz-based HR-V SUV due early next year, which is set to launch with petrol and turbodiesel drivetrains but not the hybrid available in other markets. 

The Jazz is currently Honda Australia’s third-best selling model - behind the Civic and CR-V – and the new third-generation model is set to offer similar packaging and efficiency gains to the new City sedan it shares much of its design with, and Honda’s Design Audio smartphone interface is also likely to make an appearance.

This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn