On Honda Jazz price

Dec fig is 260 nos.

You still don't get do you, friend all that money has gone into offering the quality, would you settle down for a honda with a low quality no you won't because the people who buy these honda cars are paying for the quality of the materials used to build the entire car, just sit inside any honda car and you'll notice the difference.

For example i took a test drive of a 2001 honda accord with 1,34,000 km on the clock, car was last serviced at 80,000 km according to the service records and then the owner went abroad, the car was driven around by his daughter clocking 1,34,000 kms and not yet serviced, anyway the point is the car was rattle free i mean totally rattle free the doors closed quietly, interior was nice, plastic not faded, body line straight, engine smooth as butter started in single turn of the key these are some of  the reasons why honda buyers pay so much more than other cars it is the quality of the car even after daily running still feels fresh. The reason i did not buy the car was that it is a manual transmission and i am a die hard fan of automatics.

While Honda certainly builds excellent quality vehicles, I think the Jazz is still misplaced in the Indian market.  It's a premium hatch, which perhaps isn't the best spot to be in the market.  It costs more than the competition, but doesn't offer the features one would expect for the price.

I'm not sure if Honda can actually lower the price on the Jazz (or Fit as it's called here in the US) much.  It's not a car that was designed for the Indian market.  It sells well elsewhere.  Here in the US it's the king of its size class, despite being one of the most expensive cars in the segment.  It also does well in Europe, but faces stronger competition there so it doesn't enjoy the "obviously best of class" status it has in the US.  The problem is that Amerians will pay more for a hatch, and Europeans and the Japanese will pay a lot more for one.

I'm not sure if the Jazz could ever compete with the Swift or i20 on price.  I think it would be better if they added features even though it would make the car more expensive.  For starters, I'd give it the 1.5L engine that's standard in the US version & optional in Europe.  If it's going to be the nicest car in its class, I say give it a most powerful in class engine.  Then give it other nice features like automatic climate control and a power driver's seat. Also, they should offer AT.  If it's going to be a higher priced hatch, it should just simply be better.  Now certainly the market for such cars isn't big, but there will always be some people who just simply prefer a hatch.  Those with plenty of money and a desire for the best hatch available wouldn't even need to look at anything else.  As it stands now, the Jazz just doesn't seem much better while it costs a lot more.  Even assuming that the Jazz holds up better than other cars, 1 lakh pays for quite a bit of repair work and hiring of a car while yours is in for service.

As for the rest of the market, Honda is a strong company and is quite capable of producing a 2 or 3 lakh car if they try.  It appears that their strategy is to start by building a reputation as a premium brand, then move into the heart of the market.  I think it's really just a matter of strategic timing as to when they decide to go head to head with Maruti, Hyundai, Tata, etc.

Excellent overview, Mike!

Certain features have always remained at the fringe of Indian car scene because of the chicken and egg problem about critical mass. AT is one. There were attempts at introducing this in mainstream cars like Santro etc, but they seem to have fallen by the wayside.

Honda will have to put in a lot more effort to take on the mainstream VFM rulers, and insincere efforts like the Jazz will not help much. I call it insincere because there was no serious thought given before the engine was shortchanged to 1.2L Then the 'stratospheric' pricing with pedestrian features. And the poor service network and snotty spares pricing.

It was not a one-time blunder that they committed with Jazz pricing and positioning - they repeated it with All New Honda City pricing and ruined it's market share. Not a sign of a winning team for sure.

To cap it all, they have this strange reluctance about Diesel - Immediately, that 1/2 car, 1/2 oranges ad comes to mind - if they cannot offer a complete platter of cars, they cannot have the scale and flexibility of dominating the industry. I am not that hopeful of Honda. Unless it changes its way of thinking grounds up.