New Honda Jazz 2015

New Honda Jazz release date won't be until 2015 in the UK, but it gets a fresh design and better efficiency 

The new Honda Jazz, known as the Honda Fit in other markets, is to be launched in 2015, according to the Japanese firm. 

We've already driven a prototype of the Honda Jazz Hybrid (badged as a Fit), and our photographs show how it will look - although we do expect the UK model to be tuned more specifically for UK roads, and the styling may be revised as well. It's possible that the Jazz will be built in the UK too, as the current model is produced at Honda's Swindon plant. 

The company has also claimed that the new model will offer 65mm more legroom than before - suggesting a longer wheel base - and promises that the cabin has been redesigned with higher quality materials and trims. '

The first pictures of the Honda Jazz we saw were leaked online after photos from a Japanese brochure were uploaded to an Indian website - click on the gallery above to see them. Interior shots of a 'power/charge' meter confirmed the continuation of a Honda Jazz hybrid, and the new styling showed a clear link between the Jazz and the larger Civic. 

Honda Jazz: good reputation 

The new car has a lot to live up to, following the success of the first and second generation of the Jazz, with respondents to our 2013 Driver Power Survey praising the car’s reliability above all else. 

Inside, the Jazz will maintain its reputation for offering excellent amounts of space. The first and second generation models finished in the top 10 for practicality in our Driver Power survey, so expect the Jazz to feature a boot with around 400-litre capacity, and Magic Seats which fold flat at the touch of a button.

The new Jazz will use a new, scaleable platform that will also underpin the production version of the Honda Urban SUV concept, due to rival the Nissan Juke when it goes on sale here in mid-2014. The new platform should allow Honda to give the car more sporty handling, but still remain comfortable on longer drives. 

New Honda Jazz engines 

The engine range is expected to be largely similar, with efficient 1.2-litre and 1.4-litre petrols, plus an upgraded version of the Jazz Hybrid. 

Honda hasn’t offered a diesel Jazz in its line-up before, but it could offer the firm’s new 1.6-litre diesel that launched in the Civic at the Geneva Motor Show 2013. That engine develops 300Nm of torque, and emits only 119g/km of CO2. 

A price for the new Honda Jazz has yet to be revealed, but we would expect it to start from around £14,000 and the hybrid version to cost from around £17,000.