Honda Jazz News

Sharper styling, a new hybrid system and a futuristic cabin aim to put musical excitement back into Honda's clever Jazz. It comes to Australia in June with a more daunting task - to equal or better the best sales year in Jazz's history. Details of the 2014 Jazz - Fit for the Japanese and US market - have been revealed, showing a slightly bigger car with more aggressive styling though retaining smart features such as the “magic seats” cargo concept, sharply raked bonnet and the short front overhang. Honda hasn't announced any new engine changes except for the hybrid that will become more like the Toyota Prius unit, allowing the car to be driven on battery power alone. The third generation Jazz is expected in Australia by the second half of next year and, says Honda Australia director Stephen Collins, will include the new hybrid. “We're planning on the petrol models and the hybrid,” he says. “Engine details are still a bit sketchy but we're confident the new Jazz will retain all the virtues of the current model.” Collins predicts pricing will remain “very competitive” and that there will be no change to how and where the car is marketed. But Australia has thrown the next Jazz a major challenge - to equal or better the sales of 2007 when 12,000 of the light cars were sold. “We're looking to do those sales figures again and to do that we have to make the car as competitive as possible,” Collins says. Honda Australia will source the new Jazz from Thailand, ending a ping-pong shipping route to Australia between Japan and Thailand as natural disasters sequentially affected factories in both countries. External changes of the new hatchback include dramatic creases in the side panels, perimeter tail lights, a solid grille panel, shallower headlight design and a more slanted bonnet. The cabin is completely overhauled, adding better materials and cleaning up the dashboard with the addition of a central touch-screen monitor. The new Jazz will include a hybrid but it will be unlike the current model. It will also be the first with a new gearbox that will eventually be adopted by other Honda models. Honda has moved on from its long-standing Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) design that uses a 1.3-litre or 1.5-litre petrol engine assisted by two small electric motors. IMA is currently used in the Civic, Jazz and CR-Z models. The new hybrid has a 1.5-litre engine - a modified version of that in the current model - and a single electric motor. It is designed for electric-only operation for a short range of about 5km, a feat unavailable on the current car. In a report in “Automotive News”, Honda claims 2.7 litres/100km from the new hybrid under the generous Japanese fuel test cycle. That equates to about a 30 per cent improvement on the current Jazz Hybrid. It is mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, replacing the current car's CVT auto, which helps get such a low fuel consumption. News of the dual-clutch box in favour of the CVT auto used in previous hybrids points directly at work on such a transmission for the 2015 Civic Type R - a car Honda says is coming but won't announce a launch date - and possibly extend it for use in other models. No other details of the transmission are available and Collins can't confirm it. But he says though he has nothing concrete about a new Civic Type R, he wants it. “If and when it's available, we'll be at the front of the queue,” he says. He also says the flagship $76,000-plus Legend saloon is being run out with only a handful left in Australia. “Production (in Japan) has finished and the car won't be replaced,” he says. Honda Australia finally gets a diesel CR-V SUV, in automatic and manual, later this year. The 2.2-litre turbo-diesel is also sold in the UK and is a bigger version of the 1.6-litre diesel in the Civic. This reporter is on Twitter: @cg_dowling  

Technology gets cheaper as it becomes more common. Flat-screen TVs are a prime example -- once only found in a corner of high-end electronics stores, these days they are to be found in the supermarket trolley among the fish fingers and soap powder packets. Petrol/electric hybrid vehicles are going the same way thanks to efficiencies and economies of scale in the industry. Honda introduced the first hybrid vehicle, the Insight, to Australia in 2001 when it sold for almost $50,000. Now the cheapest example of the genre has just hit the Australian market and it comes from the same company. At $22,990, plus on-roads, the Honda Jazz Hybrid in price trumps its closest rival, the Toyota Prius c, by a grand. TECHNOLOGY The powertrain of the new Jazz is shared by the latest Insight – a 1.3-litre petrol engine and electric motor combined with a continuously variable transmission – with which the maker claims fuel consumption of 4.5 litres per 100 kilometres and CO2 emissions of 107 g/km on the combined urban/highway cycle. The 1.3-litre SOHC i-VTEC engine puts out 65 kW of power at 5800 rpm and 121Nm of torque at 4500 rpm, while Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist system, comprising an electric motor, starter and generator, delivers 10 kW at 1500 rpm and 78 Nm of torque at 1000 rpm. Over the past decade, the IMA battery pack and control unit have evolved and become more compact and lightweight, ensuring the car’s practicality is not sacrificed in the hybrid. The battery has an eight-year unlimited kilometre warranty and can be recycled through a Honda dealership. The petrol engine does its bit to save fuel too. During deceleration, for example, when the cylinders are under no load, combustion is completely cut out, enabling the IMA to increase energy recovery to charge the battery. This Variable Cylinder Management is also used to shut all four cylinders when only a little torque is required – during low-speed cruising for example. In this mode the Jazz Hybrid is powered by the electric motor only, with the pistons running idle; no fuel is used and no CO2 emitted. A Multi-Information Display informs the driver how the car is being powered – by the engine, electric motor or both. After working on the car’s management system the team was able to cut the differences to 12 per cent. The cabin has similarities with the conventional Jazz. The dashboard incorporates a version of the Honda Eco Assist function, which uses ambient lighting of the speedometer to tell drivers how their driving style is impacting on fuel economy – blue for bad; green for good. DESIGN On the outside there’s little to tell the hybrid from the conventional Jazz. Differences include Hybrid headlights with a chrome-blue surround, clear rear LED tail lights, chrome-blue front grille and a chrome tailgate garnish. The Hybrid also has its own palette of colours – Alabaster Silver, Fresh Lime Green, Rallye Red, Taffeta White and Polished Metal. Honda Jazz features include what the company modestly calls ‘Magic Seats’. These can be configured in 18 ways allowing room for up 722 litres of gear to be carted. The Hybrid can take up to five on firm, quality material upholstered seats, with space in the cargo area for 223 litres (two suit cases) of luggage. Head room and leg room are good to generous all round. Other standard equipment includes 15-inch alloy wheels; Bluetooth and USB connectivity; and Vehicle Stability Assist stability and traction control, six airbags and Honda’s ACE body structure. ECONOMY On a run of more than 100 kilometres in Sydney suburban and country driving during the media launch the Jazz Hybrid recorded around six litres of petrol per hundred kilometres. That is 33 per cent over the numbers measured in a laboratory. During development of the Jazz engineers found there were significant differences in the fuel economy achieved between drivers – at an average of 30 km/h, up to 21 per cent. So the driver can make a huge difference to the efficiency of the car. An Eco Assist function helps the driver aim for the ultimate economy from the car in various situations and gives drivers continuous feedback on how their brake and accelerator work is affecting fuel consumption and impact on the environment. A stop/start engine function also plays its part. In the Econ mode, which in the Jazz, is brought into action by pressing an Econ switch, power output is limited (except during hard acceleration); driver acceleration action is smoothed along with the CVT shift pattern; regenerative brake energy is increased; air-conditioning recirculates more often; fan power is reduced more frequently; and during idle stop the air-con cuts out. Buyers are expected to be made up of mainly tech savvy, environmentally conscious females wanting practicality and versatility in a vehicle. Built in Thailand, the Jazz Hybrid is covered by a three-year 100,000 kilometre warranty, other than the aforementioned extended warranty on the special battery.  

The company that once sold the most expensive hybrid car in Australia – the bug-shaped Honda Insight that cost $48,990 when it went on sale in 1999 – has cut the cost of the technology by more than half in a little more than a decade.The price of a hybrid car has snuck closer to the $20,000 mark, with the new Honda Jazz hybrid undercutting the baby Toyota Prius C by $1000 with a RRP of $22,990.But don’t break open the bubbly just yet: it will still take at least 12 years to pay off the $7000 price difference between a Honda Jazz Hybrid and the most fuel-efficient petrol-only Jazz model.Based on the national distance average of 15,000km a year, the Honda Jazz Hybrid would use 375 litres less fuel than the standard Jazz annually, equating to a fuel bill saving of $562.50 a year based on the price of premium unleaded at $1.50 per litre. (See the table below).The arrival of the Honda Jazz hybrid is also likely to reignite debate about whether it is in fact a hybrid. It is 13 per cent thirstier than the Toyota Prius C hatch (Honda: 4.5L/100km versus Toyota 3.9L/100km).Unlike Toyota’s pioneering hybrid technology released in 1997, the Honda hybrid system is unable to move the car from rest on its electric power alone. Instead, the Honda’s smaller electric motor gives the petrol engine a boost once the car is already at cruising speed.Moving from a standstill is when cars use the most fuel. But the hybrid system in the Jazz is largely unchanged from the one Honda released in 1999, albeit adapted to newer models with redesigned battery packs.The new Honda Jazz hybrid arrives in showrooms next week, but it is unlikely to make any impact on the massive sales lead held by fellow Japanese car maker Toyota.Toyota has sold more than 4 million hybrid cars globally since 1997, and 1 million of those were sold last year alone. It took Honda 13 years to eclipse the 1 million mark, which it achieved in September last year.THE METHOD IN THE HYBRID MADNESS:Honda Jazz HybridPrice: from $22,990Engine: 1.3-litre petrol engine, 10kW electric hybrid motor assists at cruising speedsPower: 72kW/167NmConsumption: 4.5L/100kmFuel used annually: 675 litresAnnual fuel bill: $1012.50Honda Jazz petrolPrice: $15,990Engine: 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol enginePower: 73kW/127NmConsumption: 7.0L/100kmFuel used annually: 1050 litresAnnual fuel bill: $1575Price gap in annual fuel bill: $562.50Years to recover the $7000 price premium of the Jazz Hybrid compared with the cheapest model: 12.4 years Fuel use is based on the consumption figures on each car’s fuel rating label and the national average distance travelled of 15,000km a year. Fuel cost is based on $1.50 per litre, even though it will likely climb in excess of that over the next 12 years.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling 

The Jazz Hybrid, on sale here in early 2013 and priced around $25,000, is the fourth hybrid petrol-electric car from Honda, joining the Civic Hybrid, Insight and the CR-Z coupe.Like the CR-Z and Insight, the Jazz Hybrid uses Honda's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system which couples its petrol engine with an electric motor.It does not need an external power source to be recharged. The battery that powers the electric motor recharges automatically from the energy from braking.Honda claims the Jazz Hybrid has an average fuel consumption of 4.5 litres/100kms and a CO2 emission of 107grams per kilometre. It can travel up to 850km on a single tank of fuel.Honda has also confirmed its new CR-V SUV will be at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney on October 18 and go on sale in November.The CR-V will be available with a choice of front-wheel and all-wheel drive and in petrol and diesel.

NRMA Insurance has put nine of Australia’s top-selling small cars to the test, and found that even slow collisions – those everyday carpark bumps and scrapes – can cost dearly. The insurance giant tested the bumpers on the cars in a 10km/h identical crash test, and then compared repair costs.NRMA Insurance Head of Research Robert McDonald says the test reveals a vast difference in repair costs across the range of top-selling small vehicles.  “Of the vehicles tested, repair costs for a rear collision range from around $1,200 on one car to more than $7,600 on another,” he says.When that repair bill is increased with damage to both bumpers, it can wipe out a great deal of the car’s value. NRMA cited the front and rear bumper damage on a $18,990 Toyota Yaris YRS as costing $13,440 combined to repair -- a whopping 70.8 per cent of the purchase price.At the best end of the scale, the $17,990 automatic Holden Barina front and rear bumper came in at $2,574 or 14.3% of the purchase price. “A low speed crash is the most common type of crash on our roads,” McDonald says.  “Even travelling at only 10 km/h, we found many of the cars had poor-performing bumper design which resulted in high collision repair costs.”And even a five-star official ANCAP crash safety rating doesn’t always point to good results in the collision repair cost test. Except for the Nissan Micra ST-L, all cars tested have been awarded a five star ANCAP rating – yet the four-star Micra is the second-best performer with repair costs of $6,056, or 35.6% of purchase price.McDonald claims the variance in damage is due to the bumpers’ effectiveness in protecting more expensive parts such as headlights and radiator. NRMA says the collision repair cost program aims to urge manufacturers to improve their designs and help make repairs more affordable. Small car front and rear bumper collision tests results* Purchase price based on recommended retail price including GST as quoted from Glass’s Guide July 2012 publication 

Dealers in the area say they desperate for new stock. Neil Dwyer, long-time owner of Daddows Honda Cooroy, said he was struggling, even though more customers were coming through the door."They are coming in and want to spend money at last, but I can't get any cars,'' he said. "Honda's factory in Japan closed after last year's tsunami and now the factory in Thailand has been flooded. "I also sell used cars, but without any new car sales, I'm not getting the trades, so that's affected, too.'' Mr Dwyer - who opened the Cooroy dealership in 1973 and a new, Noosa dealership last year - is awaiting delivery of the new Jazz Vibe, 2012 Honda Civic and Wheels Car of the Year, the hybrid CR2. "Production has started up again in Japan, so the cars should be here late February, early March. It's definitely worth people coming in now for a chat,'' he said. "Things are still tough on the Coast, there's no denying that. One of the problems is that we no longer have major industry in the Noosa area.All the young guys are flying in, flying out to the mines. "Coast retirees have also been hit by lost super and that has impacted sales.''  John Madill of Madill Motor Group said business was definitely on the up. "There is a lot more community confidence and we have been taking orders,'' he said.The Toyota factory didn't go under water, but the supply of components from Thailand has been affected.'' He was expecting a delivery in late February or early March.

Designed to G2 specifications, the new Jazz combine the very best in Australian and European engineering, with specifications found in many World Rally Championship cars.The Mugen-tuned 2.0-litre engine delivers 183kW at 9000 revs and 193Nm of torque. Honda will be entering a second driver combination alongside Eli Evans and Glen Weston, to be announced early this year.Honda Australia spokesperson, Lindsay Smalley said the new cars could take Honda from challengers to champions."We are excited about the next year of rallying. Racing is in Honda's DNA. These rally cars are modified with the best engineering from Australia and Europe. Fitted with Mugen engines, these may well be the fastest Jazz in the world."Honda is proud to continue its support of Australian rallying and we hope next season will be even better than the last. As our founder Mr. Honda said, if Honda does not race, there is no Honda," Mr. Smalley said.Bosch ARC boss Scott Pedder welcomed Honda's expanded commitment to the Championship and congratulated the company on its initiative. "Honda has to be commended for leading the way and being the first to commit to the new formula."The Honda Civic Type R that Eli Evans and Glen Weston campaigned over the past two years has become a crowd favourite at rallies around the country, because of how exciting it looks on the stages and the great sound it makes. These new cars are going to look even better."The renderings of the new Honda Jazz G2 are very exciting and give a strong indication of how the new generation of two-wheel drive rally cars will look. I am sure they will fire the imagination of rally enthusiasts," Pedder said.Six rounds will comprise the 2012 season, with a 'Rally Showcase' at Calder Park in Victoria to mark the start of the season in March.

Victoria’s peak auto industry body, the VACC, advocates that Federal and State Governments identify the automotive industry as one that receives financial assistance. However, in return for the investment, VACC calls for more transparency regarding the terms of the negotiated deal between the interested parties. In a statement, VACC pointed to Prime Minister Julia Gillard recently confirming $34 million to support Ford Australia in return for continuing to make cars in Melbourne and Geelong until at least 2016. Federal Manufacturing Minister, Kim Carr, is reported to be working to keep GM Holden in Australia until 2020 with a $100 million package, the VACC statement adds. VACC, with 5,000 members in the retail, service and repair sector of the automotive industry, supports the Government intervention and calls for continued Federal and State Government ‘backing’ to ensure the future of automotive production in this county. “In November, I said that in horse racing terms, local manufacturers are stayers, capable of running the distance. I also said that we absolutely need manufacturing, including vehicle manufacturing, and that it should be further fostered with targeted financial assistance generated from the mining and resources boom. I stand by those comments again today,” VACC Executive Director, David Purchase, said. “Australia should be proud of its automotive industry and its contribution to the economy. " "The Victorian automotive industry alone has a turnover of $41billion and employs approximately 76,000 people. In 2011, one million calendar-year vehicle sales were achieved in this country for only the fourth time in history. According to official VFACTS data, a total of 1,008,437 new passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were delivered to customers during 2011. “We clearly have an appetite for cars in Australia and while other countries seem to unashamedly invest in their stronger manufacturers, here we are more reserved. The Government should not be afraid to ‘pick winners’ and to ensure everything is done to ensure selected manufacturers are provided with every possible advantage.   “However, where I believe there needs to be an improvement is in relation to the transparency of the negotiated deals between Governments and manufacturers. As tax payers, we deserve to know what to expect in return for the investment. Any negativity surrounding large scale investment announcements would be abated if the industry, media and wider community were fully informed of the benefits of the agreements,” Mr Purchase said.

The most dramatic price cuts in Honda history have boosted the value for anyone shopping the brand in Australia.Prices have been trimmed by up to 12 per cent over the past six months in a slash-and-burn campaign intended to reverse a dramatic 25 per cent fall in sales. Local sales have been hit hard by the March tsunami in Japan and the Thai floods that inundated its factory late last year. The Thai plant was responsible for producing around 80 per cent of the Hondas sold here and the Australian arm has been forced to react by cutting prices and adding features to boost buyer demand and market share.Company spokesman Lindsay Smalley says the value-for-money strategy is the core of the company's regrowth. "Honda Australia's goal is to rapidly return our sales and market share to our traditional levels, then grow our business into this decade," he says."We announced significant price adjustments and specification improvements across a range of models in 2011 and this year, will launch a number of new models. We strive to ensure we deliver the best value for money to Australians in a highly competitive market."The Honda Jazz light car is the latest vehicle to face the financial scalpel. Despite being imported from Japan where the high yen is causing problems for all car companies, the Jazz Vibe range starts at $17,990 driveaway for the 1.3-litre manual. Six months ago, the same car - with fewer features - had a list price of $16,990.It's the same story for the range-topping 1.5-litre Vibe S automatic. The driveaway price is $22,290, just $400 less than its price, before onroads, midway through 2011.The Jazz Vibe is based on a New Zealand-spec vehicle that was already being built at the Suzuka plant in Japan, which has minimised the time taken to certify the vehicle for Australia.Honda Australia director and sales and marketing general manager, Stephen Collins, says the Jazz Vibe is part of the carmaker's recovery plan to combat limited stock from the Thai plant, which is not expected to be fully operating until April."Honda is pleased to offer the growing number of Australian small car drivers the Jazz Vibe, delivering substantial upgrades in features and overall value. Customers can visit their Honda dealer now to order a Jazz Vibe for delivery in February, Collins says.The CR-V softroader and Accord Euro have already been put through the financial wringer and Honda is also counting on the arrival of new models later this year to entice more customers into showrooms..Honda CR-V Price now: $28,090June 2011 $30,990Honda CR-V Luxury Price now: $39,390June 2011: $42,790Honda Accord Euro Price now: $30,340June 2011: $31,490Honda Accord Euro Luxury Price now: $37,840June 2011: $41,290Honda Legend Price now: $76,990June 2011: $79,990

Honda will unveil a plug-in version of the Jazz at next month's Tokyo motor show. The Jazz is already available in world markets as a petrol and hybrid version. The plug-in Jazz will be closely modelled on last year's Detroit Auto Show design study. It has a lithium-ion battery and coaxial electric motor. Honda says the car will reach a top speed of 145km/h and a driving range of up to 160km. The battery can be recharged in less than six hours when using a 240-volt outlet.