New Honda Jazz follows 'Make in India' strategy

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) launched the third generation Jazz in India on Wednesday.

The car replaces Honda's earlier Jazz, which sold about 23,000 units in India. The HCIL has set an aim to sell 3,00,000 cars in India in the financial year 2016.

The price of the new Jazz is competetive with the base petrol version costing Rs 5,30,900. A fully loaded petrol car with automatic gear shift can be bought for Rs 7,85,000, while the diesel car has a price range from Rs 6.49 Lakhs to Rs 8.59 lakhs (All prices are Ex-Showroom Delhi).

The petrol variant comes with a 1.2 Li-VTEC engine, which gives out 110 Nm of Torque at 4,800 rpm. This can be mated to a five speed manual or an automatic CVT gear box. The automatic gear box also comes with an option of paddle shifters behind the steering.

The Diesel engine is a 105 Li-DTEC, mated to a six speed manual transmission gearbox. This can put out a maximum torque of 200 Nm at 1,750 rpm.

The new car is following the 'Make in India' strategy with 95 per cent of the parts being localised compared to the 72 per cent localisation in the earlier cars. Among other things, the suspension and the transmission of the car is now being built in India.

"Jazz has played a significant role in boosting our business globally and I am confident that it will replicate the same success in India," said HCIL President and CEO Katsushi Inoue.

Honda has also changed its marketing plan for the new car.

"The car has a new digital campaign with a digital brochure available on WhatsApp. The new advertisement for the Jazz has also been digitally created," said Jnaneswar Sen, HCIL Senior Vice-President (Marketing and Sales).

Honda is heavily investing in India, its fourth largest market globally. It has invested Rs 3,000 crore in Indian car business since 2013. India accounts for around 30 per cent of the company's sales in Asia and Oceanic region.

Honda has invested Rs 380 crores in the Tapukara plant in Rajasthan, where the Jazz will be built, to increase the capacity to 1.80 lakh units per year. Honda has plans to launch the new Accord in India, while studies are being conducted for the launch of a compact SUV.

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