Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI), Honda’s automobile business unit in the country, officially announces the discontinuation of Jazz, a hatchback model, to focus its resources in other models in its product line up. The model, imported as completely built up unit from Thailand, has been affected by the safeguard measure imposed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on imported passenger cars.
HCPI President Masahiko Nakamura said the decision to discontinue distributing Jazz was done after a thorough study on the necessity of the models in its 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 Nakamura in a statement.
Jazz has been a remarkable nameplate in the Philippine market for around 13 year and has been meeting market demands. The Jazz, which is imported from Thailand, will be available in Honda Cars dealerships until supplies last.
The Jazz, which was initially introduced in the Philippine market last July 2004, was launched as an exciting and innovative vehicle in HCPI’s roster of models.
Since its initial arrival in the country, the Jazz has been one of HCPI’s well-loved models, selling over 25,000 units to date. Being a well-received model in the Philippines, the Jazz is known for its spaciousness, versatility, style, and performance. 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.
It is currently sold at P1 million for the 1.5 VX Navi CVT and P1.09 million for the 1.5 RS Navi CVT. Jazz is popular for the young and young couples. The DTI safeguard measure has imposed a duty of P70,000 per unit of imported passenger cars.
It competes against other hatchback models in the country such as Yaris and Mazda 3.
Nine Honda models are available in the Philippine market, such as All-New City, BR-V, Brio,
New CR-V, Civic, HR-V, Accord, Odyssey, and Civic Type R.