ALL-HYBRID HONDA’S BEST VERSION IS A FAUX OFF-ROADER

Honda has the most inconsistent and bizarre product planning of any car company. It produces a hugely popular car like the S2000 roadster and then dumps it just because its engine won’t pass European emissions tests.

Other companies would have modified the engine or replaced it with a new and cleaner one.

Then there was the brilliant little CR-Z, the world’s only affordable sexy hybrid coupe, sent to the great scrapyard in the sky after only a few years of life.

But the Jazz is different. Honda has never messed with this strong seller and instead just tweaks and gradually improves it over the generations. It has an immensely loyal following with 60% of customers moving from a Jazz to a new one.

Why? Because it offers a high level of practicality and clever use of space combined with excellent reliability and ease of use.

One thing that has changed on this new Jazz is that there’s a version available called the Crosstar.

The recipe is a familiar one – add some plastic cladding around the wheelarches to give the faux off-roader look and a hint of

Honda Jazz Crosstar EX compact SUV

Price: £22,635

Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder, 108bhp

0-62mph: 9.4sec

Fuel consumption: 58.9mpg

Co2: 110g/km

adventure lifestyle, and crank up the ride height by a few millimetres too. Since the Jazz has traditionally appealed to the older driver this is interesting.

We have both the normal Jazz to drive and the Crosstar. The standard Jazz is available in SE, SR and EX trim levels, while the Crosstar is only available as a top-level EX.

Honda’s sales department

Chauffeur and private hire companies will take note of the Citroen e-space Tourer, a pure electric people carrier that seats up to nine people. This EV version of the Space Tourer is fitted with a 50kwh battery that gives a maximum range of 143 miles. The electric motor produces 136bhp which is enough punch to wind it up to a maximum speed of 80mph. There’s no price yet for the e-space Tourer but as it’ll go on sale in the UK before the end of the year we’ll have one for you in a couple of months.