2013 Honda Brio Amaze Launches

Released late last week in Thailand, the imaginatively named Amaze is a three-box spin-off from the Brio, Honda's small signature five-door hatchback that's made in both Thailand and India.

Honda has reconfigured the sheet metal to create this Brio-with-a-trunk, which also gets its own custom suspension settings.

Power comes from Honda's successful 1.2-litre i-VTEC four-cylinder engine, which is good for 90 horsepower in this tune.

Price spans 450,000—521,000 baht (some $14,645 to $16,956) but for Thai buyers signing up for the Amaze as their first car, there's a 73,000 baht ($2,375) rebate.

The finance promotion designed to help buyers sign up for the Amaze would also seem to be something pretty special, as it's titled the "Brio Amaze Equation of Happiness" campaign.

Not that the Amaze is the first car to take to the road with a boastful name, of course, but it is certainly well up there with the Skoda Superb, Mitsubishi Carisma and Nissan Prairie Joy in the automotive shock-and-awe stakes.

In an interesting footnote to how Honda markets cars in other regions, the Japanese automaker has also ordered up an "exclusive song" for the Brio Amaze called "The Equation of Love." It is sung by Bie Sukrit Wisetkaew, a Thai superstar.