2020 Honda Jazz debuts in China with new front end

The fourth-generation Honda Jazz has made its debut in China, with pre-sales set to begin in July before arriving at dealerships in August. The B-segment model was first revealed at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show and has already gone on sale in its home country of Japan as well as in Europe.

For the Chinese market, the Jazz will be offered in two variants – Sport and Crosstar – both powered by a 1.5 litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine said to provide around 131 PS (129 hp), which is paired with a CVT driving the front wheels.

Styling-wise, the crossover-esque Crosstar is identical to the one available in Japan and Europe, with highlights being an increased ride height, wheel-arch cladding, integrated roof rails as well as a model-specific front grille and 16-inch wheels.

The more interesting of the two is the Sport, as it gets a different front end from the Basic, Home, Ness, Luxe variants of the Jazz sold in other markets. The China-specific face features a more pronounced front grille rather than a largely covered-off one, and is complemented by a pointier and more aggressive bumper.

As you can see in these live photos from Autohome, the grille is rather striking to look at and it also comes complete with a honeycomb-pattern mesh insert. Compared to the optional Modulo grille available for the JDM Jazz (pictured below), this one certainly makes the Jazz stand out more for better or worse.

Another difference, albeit less subtle, is seen at the rear, where the slightly tweaked bumper has protruding ends at its edges that extend into housings for the repositioned reflectors.

Regular JDM Honda Jazz (left); with Modulo front grille (right)

Beyond these changes, the rest of the China-market Sport appears pretty much unchanged from a regular Jazz. This includes its left-hand drive cabin layout that mimics the European version, although there is a regular handbrake instead of an electronic one.

Customers in the country will have benefit from a market-specific a touchscreen infotainment system, a digital instrument cluster, Honda Sensing, a two-spoke steering wheel and a two-tone colour scheme to jazz up the interior.