New-gen Honda Jazz will debut at Tokyo Motor Show with a hybrid powertrain

- New Honda Jazz will make its world premiere on 24 October 2019.

- It will feature Honda’s i-MMD dual-motor hybrid system.

- It is likely to make its way to India in 2020.

Honda has announced that it will debut the fourth-generation Jazz with a new hybrid powertrain on 24 October at the Tokyo Motor Show 2019. The new Honda Jazz will incorporate the company’s new compact i-MMD hybrid system, which will also make its way into other Honda cars.

In its official statement, Takahiro Hachigo, CEO – Honda Motor Company, said, “We will expand the application of i-MMD 2-motor hybrid system to the entire lineup of Honda vehicles. In addition to the i-MMD hybrid system, we have developed a new, more compact i-MMD hybrid system suitable for small-sized vehicles. This small-sized i-MMD hybrid system will be adopted first by the all-new Fit (Honda Jazz) which we are planning to exhibit as a world premiere at the Tokyo Motor Show this autumn.

Unlike the current-gen hybrid system on Honda Jazz, the new i-MMD (Intelligent Multi-Mode Drive) system uses two motors that help the engine to power the electric motor and act as a range extender. The new system offers better performance under low load and gets a pure EV mode as well.

Honda Jazz is one of the global models from the Japanese carmaker that is on sale in India. The new model is likely to make its way to India in 2020, and we can expect the company to offer a hybrid option in addition to the regular petrol and diesel powertrains. Moreover, with the BS-VI rollout, diesel models will become substantially expensive and unviable in small cars.

Last month, we brought you the exclusive spy images of the fourth-generation Honda Jazz being tested at the Nurburgring in Germany. The next-gen Jazz will move to a new platform and get larger dimensions. In India, it will go against the Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Hyundai Elite i20 and the Tata Altroz.