Honda admits it faces a struggle to stop sales of its new Jazz supermini (on UK sale arch) from hitting profit-making 3dr/5dr Civic.

Honda UK managing director Ken Keir said: “There is a degree of crossover between Jazz and Civic. But we see Jazz as a great incremental volume opportunity. We are not going to push it to the detriment of Civic and Accord, certainly not in the UK. Civic is our core business in the UK but we think Jazz can take 2-3% of the B-sector market, though it has the potential to do more.” UK sales of Jazz (named Fit in Japan, where it became second-best seller in its first month) are expected to be pegged at around 10,000 units. Honda expects to sell 30,000 5dr and 10,000 3dr Swindon-built Civics in the UK next year.