What's the news?

Honda has revealed its new Jazz-based SUV that is planned to start production later this year. Based on the next generation Jazz platform, Honda has described the new model as being 'the CR-V's younger brother'. It is expected to take on rivals such as the Vauxhall Mokka and Nissan Juke when it hits the showroom.

Exterior

The concept presented at the Detroit Auto Show is a fine thing to behold. Angular front headlights featuring five separate LED segments outline a large front grille. Styling lines down the side lead to the hidden rear door handles and bespoke alloy wheels sit under the slightly pronounced arches. The good news is that Honda assures us the production version will look very similar to the concept.

Interior

Whilst we have no official information on what lies inside the Jazz-SUV we do expect the interior to have similar features to the standard next-generation Jazz model, including some form of 'magic seats'.

Mechanicals

As Honda has only revealed the concept version of the Jazz-SUV no technical details have been released as yet. When the Jazz-SUV appears in production guise it'll more than likely be powered by small-capacity petrol and diesel units and we'd expect to see a hybrid version sometime during the car's lifecycle. We also expect it to only be available in front-wheel drive format; with those seeking four-wheel-drive looking towards the larger CR-V.

Anything else?

The Jazz-SUV is expected to hit Japanese markets later on this year, US markets early in 2014 and European markets thereafter. The Jazz-SUV is part of Honda's CEO Takanobu Ito's plans to increase worldwide production from four million to seven million units annually by 2017.

James Giddings - 14 Jan 2013