Tokyo motor show - Honda Jazz

The next Honda Jazz, destined for the UK in a year's time, makes its public debut at the Tokyo motor show under its Japanese/American name of Fit.

The package remains largely unchanged – the new car is still a compact, but relatively tall four-seat supermini with above-average versatility.

The exterior has been sharpened on the new car, with Honda promising smarter interior trim materials.

The so-called 'magic' rear seats are retained, too. These have bases that tip forwards conventionally to give a flat, extended boot floor, in conjunction with a folding front passenger seat, or backwards so that a bike can be carried width-ways behind the two front passengers.

However, there will be changes on the engine front. Today's 76bhp 1.2-litre and 86bhp 1.4-litre units have been replaced by 98bhp 1.3 and 120bhp 1.5-litre powerplants in the cars on display.

Both are said to be compact, light and economical, negating the need for a diesel engine.

The 1.5 appears in a body-kitted model badged RS, although Honda may run into trouble with Ford if it tries to adopt the same name in Europe.

Honda promises a greater effort to entice people to opt for its continuously variable automatic gearbox option with the new car.

This has been retuned in the new model and is said to help lower fuel consumption while giving the driver three shift options – normal and sporty automatic modes, or seven speeds selected via steering wheel-mounted paddles.

As with the current car, the suspension will be specially tuned to deal with the higher speeds found in Europe.

The line-up and pricing are not expected to deviate much from those of the present range, so expect the next Jazz to start at around £9500.