Fourth-Gen Honda Fit Gains New Facelift Version in China

The fourth-generation Honda Fit has just gained a new facelifted version in China, featuring the same 1.5L i-VTEC engine.

While the fourth-gen Honda Fit (also known as the Honda Jazz) skipped our market in favour of the region-specific Honda City Hatchback, this popular compact hatchback has just gained a new facelifted version in China. As its name suggests, the new, China-only Fit facelift gets a redesigned front fascia and some minor equipment changes, while retaining the same i-VTEC powertrain as before.

Not to be confused with the 2022 facelifted Fit unveiled for Japan and Europe, this new facelift version is only available in China for now, developed and produced by GAC Honda—a joint venture between Honda Motor Company and China’s GAC Motor.

Back to the car, the China-only Fit facelift now looks quite different from its original version, featuring an entirely new front fascia with dual-stack LED headlights plus a cleaner front grille design with a blacked-out front bumper. The rest of the hatch, however, remains unchanged, including both its side and rear profile, as well as the LED taillight design.

Only one trim is offered for the Chinese market, and it comes standard with 15-inch wheels and three new exterior colour options—Fiery Yellow, Dynamic Blue, and Starry Night White. Thanks to its new front fascia, the facelifted Fit now grows longer (4,169 mm) than the previous model, but its wheelbase is unchanged at 2,530 mm.

Unlike other Chinese cars with fancy and tech-heavy interiors, the innards of the new Fit facelift retain their traditional layout, with the only notable change being the new 10.1-inch centre infotainment screen that supports Apple CarPlay and other China-only smartphone mirroring services. There’s also a smaller 7-inch digital metre cluster, and GAC Honda even retained the traditional pull-up parking brake instead of the electronic one.

The same can be said for its powertrain setup, as the China-only Fit facelift is still powered by the same 1.5-litre 4-cylinder naturally aspirated i-VTEC engine as before, delivering 122 hp and 145 Nm. Power is still sent exclusively to the front wheels (FWD) via a CVT automatic gearbox, and no hybrid option is available for the Chinese consumers, at least for now.

Given its relatively bare-boned interior and unchanged powertrain setup, it comes as no surprise that GAC Honda managed to price the new Honda Fit facelift at just CNY 66,800 (RM38,888), bringing it close to other popular Chinese hatchbacks like the Geely Xingyuan, BYD Seagull, and Wuling Bingo.

However, it's unclear if other Fit/Jazz models worldwide will receive the same facelift treatment, but one thing’s for sure, this revamped hatch won’t be arriving to our shores soon, but at least we get a more localised yet less practical alternative to play around with.