Honda Jazz: larger next-gen city car leaked

First published by IndianAutosBlog, the images are claimed to be scanned press shots of the Japanese-market’s third generation Honda Jazz (badged as the Fit in some markets).

While keeping the same basic shape between the A- and C-pillars, the new Jazz receives a front end heavily influenced by the Honda Civic with sharp, narrow headlights, a similar split-grille and a front bumper with two large air intakes flanking a central opening.

A side character line starting from half way up the front quarter panel runs the length of the car, through the door handles and into the restyled rear end where the rear window is now bookended by vertical brake lights.

Sitting above the rear bumper that mirrors the front’s intake design, the silver strip that houses the Honda badge on the current model has also been extended to fit the entire width of the tailgate. A new wheel design and exterior mirrors with in-built indicators can also be seen.

Inside, suggestions are that not only will the current Jazz’s ‘magic seats’ remain, but they will be joined by more interior space thanks to the new model being 60mm longer and riding on a wheelbase stretched by 80mm. The boot capacity is also set to rise more than 60 litres to 400L.

While specific drivetrain details remain light at this stage, reports suggest the Jazz will likely offer 1.2- and 1.4-litre four-cylinders, and potentially Honda’s new Earth Dreams 1.6-litre diesel. A three-cylinder engine has also been rumoured for the new generation model and the 72kW/167Nm 1.3-litre Jazz Hybrid looks set to again feature.

The new Honda Jazz is expected to land in local showrooms in 2014, to be followed by the production version of the Jazz-based Honda Urban SUV concept seen at the 2013 Detroit auto show.