Honda, Skoda hatchbacks

India is eagerly waiting for two premium hatchbacks. Both are from the automobile leaders: Honda Jazz and Volkswagen owned Skoda's Fabia. Both are tempting cars and I'm planning to get one when launched ;-)

Skoda plans to launch 1.2 (70 bhp) and 1.4 (85 bhp) petrol engines initially and then might introduce the 1.4 70 bhp diesel. Skoda cars are immensely popular in India and they have a luxury tag to them, though in european market they are known to be budget cars. Skoda always has excellent build quality and we can expect the same in Fabia. We can expect the pricing in the range of 4 to 5 lakhs.

Meanwhile, Honda's Jazz cannot be left unnoticed. It is the second most popular hatchback in Europe. We can expect 1.3 and 1.5 petrol engines producing 80 and 100+ bhp respectively. As expected, Honda won't be launching a diesel version but still this poses a serious threat to the segment leader, the Swift. Honda is known for its strategy of playing with both Dsi and VTEC engine as it did with City, and the same could be expected for Jazz too.

So, which one among these are going to be a hot seller. I guess it is going to be a tough competition between them. If I am asked to pick one among these, I'll go for skoda, which has excellent build quality and a decent mileage. I won't blame Honda either, but I stick to Skoda bcos it comes from the reliable German Volkswagen family :-)