Honda Jazz Gets Two Airbags As Standard Across Range

Honda Cars India has now equipped all the variants of the Jazz hatchback with dual airbags. The addition of this safety feature, in both the ‘E’ and ‘S’ (manual and CVT) variants, has resulted in a hike of Rs 12,000 in the list price. There are a total of 12 different variants available, covering diesel and petrol engines, and a CVT gearbox. Post the addition of the airbags, five variants get a revised price tag.

The inclusion of dual airbags brings the Honda Jazz on a par with the safety features list of its arch rival, the Hyundai Elite i20. However, on the safety front, it is the Maruti Suzuki Baleno, which is also a direct competitor to the Jazz, that takes the crown as it comes standard with dual airbags and ABS with EBD across all its variants. Coming back to the Honda, the price hike of Rs 12,000 doesn’t work in its favour as it was already the most expensive of the lot and doesn’t offer the same quality as its main rivals.

Three other cars from Honda’s Indian portfolio – the Brio, Amaze and Mobilio – have at least two variants each without airbags or ABS. With the government gearing up to make certain safety features – such as ABS and airbags – mandatory on all cars in India, it is just a matter of time before carmakers get back to their drawing boards and figure out their strategy to keep the costs in check and still cover the required list of features.