Official – Global unveil of Honda’s Vision XS-1 crossover concept at 2014 Auto Expo

The Honda XS-1 is very likely to be a SUV top-hat on the Mobilio platform.

by Karthik H of www.indianautosblog.com 

Honda has announced that it will conduct yet another global unveil in India. A creative study model called the “Honda Vision XS-1″ will be revealed at the 2014 Auto Expo in February.

The Vision XS-1 is a new crossover based on the packaging technology of Honda with both surprising space and sporty styling, the company says.

There will also be the Mobilio MPV, the third-generation Jazz hatchback, the four-generation City sedan and the Amaze compact sedan on display making it the biggest ever Auto Expo for Honda, who had nothing new to show at the previous edition.

The new Honda Jazz receives its Indian premiere at the Auto Expo.

As for the Vision XS-1 crossover concept, going by its description, it seems to be a made-for-Asia concept as it talks about packaging technology and surprising space, and not about performance or looks.

The previous made-for-Asia cars that Honda launched (and shared this introduction) were the Brio hatchback and Amaze sedan, which have had good success streaks in India and other Asian markets like Thailand and Indonesia. Moreover Honda have the Vezel earmarked for global countries, and a second crossover is not warranted.

Honda would also put the new Accord Hybrid on display, as a study.

Honda even recently inaugurated a facility in Indonesia this week that became the first to manufacture the Mobilio MPV. Honda India has already confirmed to IAB that the Mobilio will be launched in the coming fiscal.

There will also be a new scooter from Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India at the Auto Expo, the release mentioned.

Source;
http://indianautosblog.com/2014/01/honda-vision-xs-1-crossover-concept-auto-expo-2014-113344

Honda to set up a new production plant in Thailand

For Honda, Thailand is one of the strategic manufacturing bases. The existing Thailand facility serves as a mother plant for cars like the Honda City and Brio.

Currently, Honda Cars India sources majority of its imported components for the City, Jazz and the Brio from Honda’s Thailand factory.

Honda has announced that it will construct a brand new factory in Thailand at Prachinburi province which is located about 120 km to the east of Bangkok. The new production facility is expected to go on stream in 2015 with an estimated annual production capacity of 1,20,000 units.

The new plant will mainly cater to compact vehicles. In addition, Honda is planning to increase the production capacity of the existing plant from 2,40,000 units to 2,80,000 units per annum. There are also reports that the capacity could be further expanded to 3,00,000 units in 2014, so by the time the new plant is operational, the total capacity of Honda in Thailand will be 4,20,000 units.

Honda is also working on a new factory in Indonesia and has announced a plant in Mexico as well to cater to that part of the world. With an ambition of achieving annual sales of 6 million units globally by March 2017, the new plants, which will primarily build the Honda Global Compact Series models (next gen Jazz, City and Urban SUV) are indispensable.


Source;
http://indianautosblog.com/2013/02/honda-to-set-up-a-new-production-plant-in-thailand-62999

Next gen Honda Jazz to be launched in early 2014

According to Honda, compact cars are the future and the Japanese stalwart is emphasizing on the next generation Jazz (called as Fit in some markets) and the derivatives from its platform – the next gen Honda City and the production version of the Urban SUV Concept.

The next gen Honda Jazz and the City are global products along with the upcoming compact SUV. Honda terms the trio as “Global Compact Series” and expects small and fuel efficient cars to be the next big thing globally including the U.S.

A recent report claimed that they will have next generation telematics on-board besides sporting improved fuel economy.

Honda is working on a new manufacturing plant in Mexico which would be ready by early 2014 to manufacture the next gen Jazz, City and the compact SUV. Honda expects global sales to attain 6 million vehicles by the end of March 2017 and the Mexico plant would help Honda achieve it since the global compact series is pipped at contributing 1.5 million units by then.

Caradvice.com quotes Mr. John Mendel, Executive Vice President of Honda America saying that, “We’re going to launch this 2015 Fit (Jazz) in the spring of 2014 (season stretches from March-May 2014), which is going to build on the momentum we’ve already created in the small car segment.”

We presume that the 2015 Honda Jazz, City and the new Urban SUV (confirmed for late 2013, that may recall the Honda HR-V nameplate) are important models for India. The 1.5 litre Earth Dreams unit, like Renault-Nissan’s K9K motor, can be manipulated in various ways to persuade these forthcoming new products and give them a long term assurance in diesel-driven countries.

Honda may not have got the best results with the Jazz that’s limping along today with less hope, but using diesel technology, banking on the high growth rate set to follow in the B+ segment this decade and a fancy brand to boot, there is definitely a “yes” in the Jazz’ future.

Source;
http://indianautosblog.com/2013/02/2015-honda-jazz-to-be-launched-early-next-year-62328

Woody's Car Site Find: Next Gen Honda FIT/Jazz

Above is the new pic of what the next gen Honda Fit/Jazz may look like and below is one that was floating around a while ago.  If you don't already have Woody's site bookmarked, I'd highly recommend it, he's got a great site!  Check it out if you haven't already; www.woodyscarsite.com

Source;
http://www.woodyscarsite.com/2012/07/2014-honda-fit-jazz.html

2014 Honda FIT CUV????

Hmmm, is Honda thinking of a FIT based CUV, say something like a Nissan Cube?!? Not sure what market this would 'Fit' into.... (I'm terrible, I know....)
Source;
http://autokavla.blogspot.ca/2011/12/2014-honda-fit-cuv-preview-futuro.html

Next Generation Honda FIT/Jazz Rendering from Autointrends.com

Latest ,most realistic and most beautiful rendering of 2014 Honda Jazz/Fit
Autointrends.com reported the speculation and rendering in January 2012.That time we posted computer generation image from the Mag-X which have sportyness and sharp line.Above of all Autointrends considers it too futurelistic for the car that schedule to arrive next year.

Now,We got Latest rendering from same magazine.But this time the image is more realistic (actually it the most realistic that autointrends have ever seen).It look very sporty, well proportion and improve from current car’s design.The headligh will be larger,the bumper will have more muscle.The line at side of the car will be more complex and have 2nd line at below of the door.The opera’s window and rear pillar will look like similar styling to current car.

The size of the car will be similar to current car.The 1.3 liter engine will improve very much in fuel economy from 24.5 km./liter to 30 km./liter or even 32 km./liter in gasoline/electric version.The economy which save more because the use of CVT,Better aerodynamic and reduce weight of the car.

Source;
http://autointrends.com/2012/04/05/latest-most-realistic-and-most-beautiful-rendering-of-2014-honda-jazzfit/