My wife and I are looking at buying our first car, and are looking at getting a Jazz. I know a hybrid version has been launched in some parts of the world, but we would like to know if it's likely to come to the LoS, and if so will it be locally built (and so reasonably priced), and an expensive import, in the same way that the Prius is.

Thanks

N

Back in early 2010, Honda sources suggested that the Jazz was on the radar for Thailand, but around August 2010 Honda scrapped all plans to sell the model here.

The Toyota Prius is not imported BTW - it's Thai assembled. While it may be expensive compared to other places around the world, it's not expensive given the Thai taxation system.

OK, thanks for answering MRO, and thanks for clarifying the situation with the Prius.

Best wishes

N

The only Hybrids currently available in TH are the Toyota Prius/Camry, Lexus RX/CT, Porsche Cayenne/Panamera, and via the gray market, the Honda CR-Z (though I'm sure someone will point out something obscure I've overlooked )

The next small hybrid will be the Mitsubishi eco-car (all-new Colt), which releases in non-hybrid form in early 2012, with hybrid and all-electric variants to follow (an unspecified time) later.

Suzuki also have their new eco-car launching next year, and there's talk of a possible allaince with VW which may see hybrid tech eventually get into the product, but that would more than likely be in 2013++.

If the current subsidies for E85 continue under the new gov't, I would expect the focus for Thai brands will be to lean towards FFV's rather than much more expensive/complex hybrid systems. Current prices for E85 are 22.8 Baht/L, so a 1.5L ~120HP FFV which manages 90% the effeciency of gasoline ends up way cheaper to run than a similar sized E10 or E20 hybrid, and only incurs an extra ~10K of manufacturing expense, vs ~350K+ for hybrid.