Honda has been road-testing the next-gen Jazz for almost a year now in preparation for its world premiere at the upcoming Tokyo motor show later this year. Now a first image of the new car has surfaced online which also confirms that Honda will add a Type R variant to the next-gen Jazz's line-up.

The fourth-gen Honda Jazz gets fresh styling inside out. At the front, it gets a more rounded look with larger headlamps that look a bit similar to the second-generation car. The headlights get projector units with LED headlamps and DRLs with black inserts. The front bumper is more squarish now, with prominent black inserts and a honeycomb mesh design for the fog lamp inserts and air dam.

It sports a wider and taller grille, again with black inserts, and a prominent Honda badge with red bits, as seen on the other Honda Type R models. The new Jazz's glasshouse is more rounded and it also gets a small quarter glass just aft of the rear door. Also seen on the new Honda Jazz are large alloy wheels that are painted black.

At the back, it gets horizontally positioned wraparound tail-lamps with LED elements. Honda seems to have styled the Jazz like the Mercedes-Benz B-class when viewed from the rear three-quarters. The next-gen Jazz will be 3,990mm in length, and that means it will qualify for the excise benefits in India, just like the current model. Honda will, however, increase the car’s width in order to facilitate more room in the cabin and boot.

While it was known that the new Jazz will get a twin-motor mild-hybrid petrol engine, what’s surprising is the Type R variant seen here will come with a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine delivering a whopping 220hp, making it the most powerful iteration of the Jazz ever built.  Additionally, Honda is also expected to offer a 1.0-litre turbo petrol and a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol for some markets like India. 

The new Honda Jazz will share its underpinnings with the all-new Honda City sedan that is also being road-tested in Thailand before its market launch expected sometime next year.