Not just Honda Brio; Jazz might also to get the 1.2 L diesel engine

Honda car fans needn’t be disappointed with the Honda’s attempt to dismiss the Brio diesel news to be a rumour. The Japanese car manufacturer has only postponed the launch of the much anticipated Honda Brio diesel to a 2013, defying the earlier speculations for a launch right in 2012. But, what seems to heat up the news now is the new 1.2 L 3 –cylinder diesel engine will also power the Honda Jazz diesel hatchback going forward. The two Honda small cars, which make up for the Honda’s presence in the hatchback segment of the Indian car market powered by a 1.2 L i-VTEC petrol engine are facing multiple ups and downs. This is mainly due to sliding demand for petrol cars combined with the production loss due to Honda’s flood affected Thailand unit.

The 1.3 iDTEC 3-cylinder diesel engine is basically the knocked down version of the 1.6 L iDTEC 4 -cylinder diesel engine Honda Motors brought for the display at the 2012 Auto Expo in India. However Honda Motors are believed to work for an exceptional fuel efficiency and the performance as clearly evident from the 120 Bhp and 300 Nm maximum power and torque output numbers of the 1.6 L iDTEC engine. The 1.3 L, toned down diesel version is also expected to be in tandem  with the 1.6 L diesel powertrain all ready to perform under the hood of the Honda Brio and the Honda Jazz hatchback to make up for the long standing deficit of the diesel engines for the Honda cars in India.

All the same, 1.6 L iDTEC engine will power the Honda Civic sedan, though it is difficult to say at the moment if Honda might bring the new engine in the 2012 Honda Civic model. Nevertheless, the delay could be more or less because of the flood affected Thailand unit which is the key manufacturing plant for Honda motors sourcing the underbody parts and the electric components. A major part of the time for the auto major was taken up in getting the Honda cars production including Honda Brio and Honda Jazz cars right on track, because of which Honda India ended up showing no car at 2012 Auto Expo.