With both its plants in Rajasthan and Greater Noida already at full capacity, Honda is facing a production capacity crunch. At present both plants are being operated in two shifts with output
at a 100 percent to meet existing customer demands. The launch of the upcoming Jazz is likely
to force Honda to juggle production schedules to accommodate the new car.
The model expected to face production cuts is the Brio which saw sales fall to a low of 800 units for the month of April. This compact hatchback from Honda has seen a decline in sales in recent times with the probable cause being the lack of a diesel engine.
Honda has already invested Rs 380 crore in its Rajasthan plant to ramp up production from the existing output of 1,20,000 units to 1,80,000 units annually by mid-2016.
Honda is expecting a strong response from customers when it launches the new Jazz, with the new model being offered with the choice of a 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel engine from the Amaze and the City, apart from the 1.2-litre i-VTEC motor. Also being offered on the Jazz is the option of a CVT gearbox alongside the manual gearbox. The CVT transmission is the same unit on the current Honda City and has been mated to a torque converter to solve the problem of slow responses.
The New Jazz has been slated for a launch sometime in July 2015, with Honda already releasing the teaser video for the new car. The company has also said that the Jazz will follow the rest of Honda’s cars save the CR-V, in featuring 90 percent locally sourced components to keep costs down. The car will rival the likes of the Maruti Swift, the new Hyundai i20, Volkswagen Polo and the Tata Bolt.