Honda Cars Philippines Inc., Honda’s automobile business unit in the Philippines, announced Friday it will stop the importation and sale of subcompact car Honda Jazz in the country.
“The Jazz has been a remarkable nameplate in the Philippine market for around 13 years. However, as we continue to put an emphasis on meeting market demands, we have thoroughly studied the necessity of the models in our current model lineup,” said HCPI president Masahiko Nakamura.
“After careful consideration, we would like to formally announce the discontinuation of Jazz and all its variants, in order for us to shift our focus and resources to our current and upcoming models,” he said.
The Jazz, which was introduced in the Philippine market in July 2004, was launched as an exciting and innovative vehicle in HCPI’s vehicle line-up. Since its initial arrival in the country, the subcompact car has been one of HCPI’s more popular models, selling over 25,000 units to date.
Despite its small body, the Jazz is known for its interior spaciousness, versatility, style and performance. It is also noted for its one-box or monospace design.
The Jazz is a favorite among young Filipino owners for its configurable seats that Honda calls “Magic Seats” which fold in several ways to accommodate cargo in varying shapes and sizes and cargo volume competitive to larger vehicles.
Known in other parts of the world as Honda Fit, the Jazz shares the same small car platform as the City, Airwave, first generation Mobilio and Freed.
Following its market debut, two more generations were launched in 2008 and 2014. The third generation received a facelift in 2017, which was a great milestone for the nameplate, as it also saw the introduction of its sporty RS variant in the market.
Honda announced that the Jazz would be available in Honda Cars dealerships until supplies last.