Not more than a week ago, we reported that Honda Cars India has updated its official website with the teaser image of the BS6 Jazz. The darkened teaser image only shows the hatchback’s silhouette and gives subtle hints of its front fascia. The BS6 model back then was speculated to remain unchanged except the newly updated engine to meet the latest emission conformity.
But, new spy shots of the Honda Jazz that have emerged on the internet lead us to believe that the brand is likely to update the Honda Jazz with minor changes to its front & rear as a well as its interior. The new spy shots of a heavily camouflaged test mule appears to get these changes and the updated Jazz could resemble the US-spec facelift model which is marketed as the Honda Fit in North America. The Honda Fit in the USA received the facelift last year and possibly the same changes could be brought to our market as well.
Though the heavy camouflage covers do not reveal much, the keen-eyed is likely to spot the change that the new bumper has in the fog light housing area. The air dam appears to have a slightly different shape and the sides also appear to have a different shape than the outgoing car. The rear of the car has been tightly wrapped and as of now no major changes are seen to the rear, but it is likely to reverberate with the new front end the rear bumper is also likely to be tweaked with subtle differentiating features. The new BS6 Jazz is also likely to get a refreshed grille and new design on the alloy wheels.
Information on the interiors is still scarce but based on the above hypothesis it is safe to speculate that Honda is likely to refresh the hatchback’s interiors with mild updates such as a new 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system and possible new air-conditioning controls. The Honda Fit in the North American market features a single-pot analogue speedometer with two colour displays flanking its sides but it is not likely to come to the Indian market.
In the engine department, the Honda Jazz is likely to share the powertrain from the already BS6 updated Honda Amaze which is powered by a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine that produces 90 ps of power and 113 Nm of torque coupled to a 5-speed manual gearbox or a CVT automatic transmission. The BS6 Jazz is also likely to get a 1.5-litre diesel engine that produces 100 ps of power and 200 Nm of torque matched to a 6-speed manual transmission and a CVT automatic gearbox.
The teaser image was updated on the website before the lockdown was imposed in India due to the COVID-19 outbreak and new information on the launch is expected to be received as soon as the health situations normalise.