Honda's popular Jazz gets hybrid power, making it Britain's cheapest and smallest family hybrid hatchback.
Do we still love the Honda Jazz? It looks like it. Despite reservations about the current Mark II version’s i-Shift automated manual gearbox, this five-door hatch with its clever, double-folding seats has continued to sell solidly, thanks in part to recommendations by Honest John.In the past six years it has never dropped below third in Britain’s supermini sales charts, behind the Ford Fiesta and, occasionally, Vauxhall’s Corsa. Pretty impressive for a little car I first drove in Japan in 2001, where it impressed mightily with its engineering, but rode like a trolley jack.The Jazz has established itself in the supermini sector, but owners have an average age of 65 years and an average annual income of £34,465 compared with 55 years and £36,458 for the segment. In other words, a fair proportion of Jazz owners are pensioners and, according to the Office for National Statistics, in 2008-09 fewer than 15 per cent of pensionable couples had an income in excess of £30,000; Jazz owners are some of Britain’s wealthiest wrinklies.Strange they haven’t moaned more about the Jazz’s so-so ride quality. They call it Fit in the United States and Japan, but compared with the ride and handling balance of cars such as the latest Fiesta and Volkswagen’s Polo, the Jazz is a bit of a couch potato.So to coincide with the launch of the petrol/electric hybrid version, Honda has taken the opportunity to improve the car’s suspension. We’ll come back to that, but first we should explain how Honda has produced Britain’s cheapest and smallest hybrid family hatchback.
Do we still love the Honda Jazz? It looks like it. Despite reservations about the current Mark II version’s i-Shift automated manual gearbox, this five-door hatch with its clever, double-folding seats has continued to sell solidly, thanks in part to recommendations by Honest John.
In the past six years it has never dropped below third in Britain’s supermini sales charts, behind the Ford Fiesta and, occasionally, Vauxhall’s Corsa. Pretty impressive for a little car I first drove in Japan in 2001, where it impressed mightily with its engineering, but rode like a trolley jack.
The Jazz has established itself in the supermini sector, but owners have an average age of 65 years and an average annual income of £34,465 compared with 55 years and £36,458 for the segment. In other words, a fair proportion of Jazz owners are pensioners and, according to the Office for National Statistics, in 2008-09 fewer than 15 per cent of pensionable couples had an income in excess of £30,000; Jazz owners are some of Britain’s wealthiest wrinklies.
Strange they haven’t moaned more about the Jazz’s so-so ride quality. They call it Fit in the United States and Japan, but compared with the ride and handling balance of cars such as the latest Fiesta and Volkswagen’s Polo, the Jazz is a bit of a couch potato.
So to coincide with the launch of the petrol/electric hybrid version, Honda has taken the opportunity to improve the car’s suspension. We’ll come back to that, but first we should explain how Honda has produced Britain’s cheapest and smallest hybrid family hatchback.
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