Masahiro Takedagawa in Greater Noida on Thursday. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, March 12: Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI), the Indian entity of Japanese car manufacturer Honda, is set to launch its hatchback Jazz in the second half of this year.

“It will have an engine specifically made for the Indian market. We are looking at a June-July launch,” Masahiro Takedagawa, HSCI president and CEO, said on the sidelines of the launch of the upgraded Accord V6 at Greater Noida.

The Jazz will be produced at Honda’s Greater Noida facility, with nearly 70 per cent of the components sourced locally.

The car, which shares its platform with the new Honda City, is expected to be powered by a 1200cc petrol i-VTEC engine.

Analysts said it was likely to be priced between Rs 5.5 lakh and Rs 6.5 lakh.

The ca will be competing directly with the Skoda Fabia, Hyundai i20 and the yet-to-be-launched Fiat Grande Punto.

“We have studied the market and are quite confident about our selling abilities. In Thailand, the Jazz is priced higher than our City model,” said Jnaneswar Sen, vice-president (sales and marketing), HSCI. The City is Honda’s best-selling model in the country.

“Though we don’t expect the Jazz to take over volumes of our City model, the hatchback will still create some volume for us,” said Takedagawa.