New Honda Jazz Debuts In Japan – Can You Spot The Difference?

While Honda of America is busying itself with the tenth generation all-new 2016 Honda Civic Sedan, Honda Japan has quietly launched a new Honda Jazz – which looks nearly identical to the outgoing model.

At a glance, you can hardly tell the difference between the two. The only notable difference in the facelifted Japanese market Honda Jazz (sold in Japan as the Fit) is a new radiator grille.

Squint your eyes hard enough, and you will notice a thin chrome strip at the upper part of the grille, while the other chrome strip on the lower part of the grille has been moved lower down.

The Japanese-market only hybrid model gets a new aerodynamically enhanced wheel cap.

Other than these two items, the new Jazz is nearly unchanged from the previous model. Considering how well the car is selling and how good it looks, we think it’s the right decision. Don’t mess about with a formula that already works so well.

Inside, the Japanese-market Jazz’s air-conditioning system has now been upgraded with odour-reducing Plasmacluster technology – standard on all Japanese-market Jazz models except the Jazz Hybrid.

This, and some other minor adjustments on availability of cruise control, navigation, cargo area lamp, and alarm – features whose availability differs from country to country anyway, wraps up the updates on the Jazz facelift.

Note that most Japanese-market Jazz are sold with a smaller, 1.3-litre engine. A 1.5-litre engine is only available in the Fit RS variant. Our locally-assembed Jazz is only available with a 1.5-litre engine.