Sad news for the Honda Jazz fans out there: Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. or HCPI discontinues their iconic Jazz subcompact to the Honda Jazz as it will soon be pulled out of the market. After 13 long and awesome years, the sale of the iconic line no longer makes sense for HCPI.
The Honda Jazz, also known as the Fit, was introduced in the Philippine market nearly two decades ago, on July 2004. It started as a small, fun-to-drive sub-compact hatchback that grew in dimension and power as time went on. Despite the outside size, the Jazz is known to be very spacious inside; thanks to Honda’s remarkable interior space engineering. The first generation is called “GD”, which is the chassis code of the car. The second-generation Honda Jazz followed in 2008 with a GE chassis code. It was still a sub-compact and fun to drive car but was noticeably larger than the previous model. With the same formula but with an updated body design, HCPI brought the third generation GK in 2014. All three generations sold very well in the Philippines with HCPI selling over 250,000 units to date. Pinoys absolutely love the Jazz, which makes the announcement a shock to compact car lovers.
The news that Honda Philippines has discontinued the iconic Jazz come as a surprise, with the company saying that the move is in consideration of “market demands”. There can be a lot of reasons to the move – sale numbers for the vehicle might not be there, or the Honda City Hatchback might actually be competing in the same space, potentially cannibalizing sales. We don’t know the reasons, though HCPI president Masahiko Nakamura had this to say:
“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. 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.” said Mr. Masahiko Nakamura, Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) president
Just like that, Honda Philippines discontinues the iconic Honda Jazz. The subcompact that could is officially dead. in the Philippines. Interestingly, this could bolster the already strong resale value of Honda Jazz in the secondhand market, which is usually what happens to desirable models when they are discontinued. The good news is that there are still brand-new Jazz vehicles in dealerships now, though once they dry up and get bought up, they won’t be replenished.