IT HAS not been a great year for Honda. Overall year to date sales in Australia are down by 34 per cent on first six months of 2013 and it is the company’s core models – Civic, CR-V and Jazz – that are faring the worst.

But the Japanese car-maker’s local off-shoot is confident that is all about to turn around, and it is all thanks to its diminutive Jazz light hatch, which has just arrived in local Honda dealerships.

Honda says the third-generation Jazz will be so popular it will boost overall sales in the second half of this year and help it achieve its newly revised sales targets for 2014.

With improvements across the board, from fuel efficiency to packaging, design, comfort and safety, the Jazz is in the best position it has ever been to regain lost ground, but it is launching at a time when competition is about to get even tougher with new or facelifted versions of the Mazda2, Volkswagen Polo, Toyota Yaris and Kia Rio all arriving within months.

Is the much improved Jazz good enough to turn Honda’s local fortunes around?

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