"We wanted to do it, though, because it would give us added volume. From a plant point of view, it was really important for us to get a share of the small car market as quickly as possible.

 

"The main reason we managed to accomplish implementation of the Jazz is down to the global plant standard and the fact that we don’t automate everything, so we’ve got some degree of flexibility between making a Civic and making a Jazz."

 

 In fact, says Hodgetts, who joined Honda back in 1990, the amount of factory investment made in order to build Jazz was relatively small. What was expensive was the tooling, for supplier parts and our Honda’s own body panel press dies. All the localisation required specialised, unique tooling.