Honda Jazz could be the small car for India from Honda Motor. Honda does not currently have a small car for India. In India, it currently sells the Honda City, Honda Civic, Honda CR-V and the Honda Accord. Honda sees its long term future in India dependent on the small car mass market, which is why it is now planning to bring a small car to the Indian market, after ten years of successful run on Indian roads.

Masahiro Takadegawa, president and CEO of Honda SIEL cars, is readying to roll out a small car, the Jazz, in the Indian market around June 2009, which is six months ahead of schedule. The Jazz, a hatchback that is sold in Europe, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand, is likely to carry a pricetag of Rs 5-6 lakh and will compete with The Getz, Chevrolet Aveo U-va and Maruti Swift.

The company may face gruelling moments initially as the Jazz has to remain profitable for small cars and not eat into markets of Honda's other cars.

After the entry of Jazz, Honda will have a car in every category. Currently, the company has the Honda City in the mid-size saloon market, The Civic, a larger saloon, The Accord in the luxury category and the Honda CR-V an SUV.

Honda president and CEO Takeo Fukui said the Jazz will be launched early owing to the response and entusiasm generated about the car.

The Jazz will be rolled out from Honda's existing plant at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh and not from Rajasthan. The car is expected to be out around June next year. Honda also plans to launch another small car with a 1.2 litre engine in the next four years.

Another link: Honda Jazz coming to India?