All New Honda Jazz Launched In Malaysia

The all new Honda Jazz was unveiled today amidst an exclusive fashion presentation inspired by the car’s features and image, and created jointly by Malaysia’s top fashion designers and stylist. In a very original car unveiling that is possibly the first of its kind here, the second generation Jazz made its entry into the Malaysian market with a strong statement about its class-leading performance, space and style.

When introduced in 2001, the first generation Jazz quickly won over millions of fans around the world as an unconventional car that exceeds expectations of a compact car in terms of design, reliability, practicality, fuel efficiency and drive-ability.The Jazz made an impressive cumulative sale of 2.3 million units worldwide with Japan, Asia and the Oceania (Australia, New Zealand and surrounding countries) region accounting for half of its sales.

“The second generation Jazz presents one of toughest challenges in the development of a car of its kind as its predecessor already set a high benchmark in the compact 5-door hatchback segment,” said Mr. Atsushi Fujimoto, Honda Malaysia Managing Director and CEO at the launch. He continued to descrive the All-New Jazz development as an ‘evolution’ that takes the class-leading and well-received elements of the first generation and improves on them within the limits of price and size. “This is much more challenging than changing a car’s total design; but it pushes us to innovate further so that our customers get even more value out of the similarly compact All-New Jazz,” he said.

Also at the launch event was Mr. Kohei Hitomi, Chief Engineer from Honda R&D in Japan, whose team took the demanding task of developing the second generation Jazz. He explained that the development concept was focused on three areas: to develop a model that can be placed in the centre of compact car category; to offer strong product competitiveness; and to deliver new values to customers.

The result is a premium and class-leading compact 5-door hatchback with further improved and evolved ‘DNA’ from the first generation Jazz, which includes its design, utility, drive-ability and fuel consumption. Key highlights of the new Jazz are its dynamic exterior styling, best-in-class spaciousness and comfort, class-leading performance and drive-ability with good fuel efficiency, and advanced safety features – all befitting of its new and premium image.

The front pillar of the All-New Jazz has been moved forward to create exhilarating effects on both exterior and interior space. Externally, the advanced super-forward form enhances the aerodynamic and energetic appearance of the car. Internally, the cabin features an ingenious layout that increases spaciousness equivalent to an average medium-sized sedan, providing passengers a natural feeling of comfort. It also makes way for an extended and larger wind shield that provides better visibility for the driver.

Another noteworthy achievement in the second generation Jazz is its enhanced utility. It provides a variety of seating and trunk utilities that maximise seating flexibility and cargo space. This includes extension of space and usage via the enhanced ULTRA Seat, which operates in the Utility, Long and Tall models. These three modes enable car owners to load objects of different sizes into the car, enhancing the practicality of the car for today’s car owners and drivers.

The All-New Jazz is powered by Honda’s newly enhanced 1.5 liter i-VTEC engine, which combines with 5-speed Automatic Transmission (5AT) to offer excellent drive-ability, performance and fuel efficiency. It comes in the 1.5-liter i-VTEC Grade S and Grade V variants, both of which command a power output of 120PS, which is the most powerful in its class. While the Grade S offers essential features of the new Jazz, the Grade V variant offers additional features such as paddle shift, and exclusive fittings that gives the car a sportier look. In terms of environmental friendliness, all variants have been designed to meet the Euro4 emissions level.

The safety performance of the All-New Jazz comes with the revolutionary G-Con Technology with body structure designed to spread out and disperse collision impact so as to limit cabin intrusion to effectively minimise driver and passengers as well as pedestrian injuries. It is also fitted with Dual SRS Airbags and ABS system.

In Malaysia, the new Jazz is available in four colours: Cerulean Blue Metallic, Alabaster Silver Metallic, Taffeta White, and Crystal Black Pearl which is available from November 08 onwards.

In addition to introducing the All-New Jazz via a thematic fashion show, Honda Malaysia is reaching out to its target audience via an internet portal at www.defyconvention.com.my. To create a buzz and excitement leading to the launch, visitors of the site could subscribe to the weekly e-newsletter to get latest updates and information on the new Jazz, such as interviews with the creative team behind the launch and fashion show and its themes. Starting today, visitors will also get to see first hand the television commercial of the All-New Jazz on the website, before its broadcast on TV on 27th August.

To reward the first 300 customers of the ALL-New Jazz, Honda Malaysia has also commissioned the three designers, Khoon Hooi, Melinda Looi and Jonathan Cheng, to design 300 pieces of exclusive polo t-shirts. Each piece will have its own unique design.