We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Car website. However, if you would like to, you can change your cookies at any time
The start point for the best source of fleet information |
Honda has defended its failure to get the forthcoming Jazz Hybrid under 100g/km for emissions, with UK boss David Hodgetts telling BusinessCar he didn't feel the figure is a "major driver of the selection process" for corporate consideration.
"We could aim for that figure or we could aim for a car that does the job," he said, referring to Honda's approach of providing a useful car that retains the Jazz's interior flexibility rather than losing that by having to package enough extra batteries to pull down the emissions from the 104g/km figure.
The car loses just 35 litres of boot space compared with its purely petrol sibling, and is 20% more efficient. "This gets us down to where we need to be to demonstrate where we're going," said Hodgetts.
"It will get us onto a lot of lists - there are some triggers we are not currently meeting. The Jazz is our most popular fleet car, in the public sector in particular, and this will give us an advantage."
It will be priced at around £16,000, putting it at the top of the Jazz range, and Honda is predicting the hybrid will take 10% of Jazz sales. Hodgetts added that it will signify Honda pushing into the fleet sector "in a more aggressive way".
The firm claims sub-100g/km cars are currently only 1% of the market and 100-110g/km are 5%.
But Honda's UK boss did admit the company has been at a "slight disadvantage" with the CO2-driven car choice lists. "It's been recognised and taken on board; clearly our product isn't at the front of its life cycle, and from 2012 onwards it will be different," he said.
The Civic Hybrid is, at the same time, on its way out, as it doesn't meet the latest Euro5 emissions legislation coming in at the end of this year.
Follow BusinessCar on TWITTER
BusinessCar magazine ©2019
Business Car Magazine © 2020 | Business Car is part of NS Media Group.
