Honda Cars : Honda Planning Multiple Variants of Fit for North American Markets | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

The Honda Fit has long been one of our favorite subcompacts, deftly combining ultra-efficient packaging with entertaining driving dynamics. But the number of variants sold in the North American market of Honda’s popular subcompact is about to triple, according to a report from Automotive News. Construction of a new assembly plant in Mexico is currently underway, where the models will be produced for both the Mexican and U.S. markets. With an annual capacity of 200,000 units, the plant should be able to handle demand from both markets.

In a nod to U.S. tastes, the next-generation Fit may be offered in a four-door sedan configuration, as well as a compact crossover, in addition to the current five-door hatchback model. Worldwide, Honda already sells multiple variations of the Fit, which is also sold in some markets as the Jazz. The recently-introduced Fit Twist was unveiled for the Brazilian market, which added more rugged styling cues and slightly higher ride height to give it somewhat of the “Outback” treatment. Alternately, Honda sells the seven-passenger Fit Shuttle in Japan and other markets for customers looking for added passenger and cargo versatility in a compact package.

Honda expects the Fit to become its fastest-growing nameplate in the years ahead, and key to its growth in the Mexican market, where Honda sold 36,209 vehicles through the end of 2011. The company has already surpassed last year’s total by selling 42,933 units through the end of October.
Will the addition of a notchback Fit eat in to Civic sedan sales, or appeal to a whole different consumer? Share your thoughts on Honda’s lineup expansion below.


Source;
http://rumors.automobilemag.com/honda-planning-multiple-variants-of-fit-for-north-american-markets-190411.html#axzz2EatqcA8N

Honda Cars : Honda Promises Next-Generation Fit Will Bring Four-fold Sales Increase | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda wants to two million cars in the U.S. in 2016, but it’s not looking only to the blockbuster Civic or Accord models to puff up the sales sheets. Instead, Honda President Takanobu Ito is hoping that a new generation of Honda Fit hatchback–made in the company’s new Mexican plant–can make up the difference.

The Fit’s had a decently good ride over the past six years: it sold 27,934 units during its first year of American sales (2006), but that number ballooned to 79,794 in 2008 as gas prices jumped and customers looked to downsize their rides without sacrificing interior space. The second-generation model went on sale in Fall 2008 and enjoyed good sales in 2009–67,315 units–but have leveled to between 50 and 60,000 units ever since. 2011 is shaping up to be the Fit’s worst year since 2007, with good reason: not only does the Fit’s fuel economy leave it behind competitors (and even the Civic), Honda is limiting exports of the money-losing Fit thanks to a poor exchange rate between the Yen and Dollar.

So how will the Fit make its resurgence? Two ways: for one, President Ito promises that Honda’s new Mexican plant–which will make up to 200,000 units a year and go online in 2014–will make both the Fit and as-yet-unknown Fit variants, and send the “vast majority” of them to the U.S. market – which should make Fit pricing more competitive while retaining profit margins for dealers and Honda alike. Honda also promises that the new Fit will deliver better fuel economy and better packaging.

Considering the current Fit boasts both the so-called Magic Seat and surprising rear-seat headroom, that’s quite a promise.

Those forthcoming Fit variants are the second leg of the plan: while a new Fit with class-competitive pricing and better fuel economy would do well in the compact market (surely outselling the 50,000-or-so units Honda will sell here this year), Honda hopes to use the Fit platform to produce a slew of variants in hopes of catching buyers’ eyes. The next Fit Hybrid–which will be the first vehicle to use the new generation of Honda Integrated Motor Assist–isn’t yet confirmed for the U.S. market, but we’ve long heard of some sort of Fit-based CUV potentially coming to the states, where it would slot beneath the CR-V.

Can Honda quadruple Fit sales in four years? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Source;

http://rumors.automobilemag.com/honda-promises-next-generation-fit-will-bring-four-fold-sales-increase-182975.html

Honda Cars : Next Honda Fit Will Spin Off Mini Crossover, Sedan for U.S. | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

by Justin Berkowitz of Car and Driver Magazine

Honda’s Fit is coming back as an all-new car next year—and it’s bringing friends. The upcoming hecho-en-Mexico Fit also will spin off two Mexican-made models for the U.S. market: A Fit-based small crossover and a sedan likely called the City. In a recent meeting, Honda’s U.S. CEO said that we’d see the Fit plus two derivatives in the States, clearing up any confusion from the company’s global boss, Takanobu Ito, saying a few weeks ago that the Mexican plant would build the “Fit, City, and a new compact SUV model.” Until now, we didn’t know if the latter two would actually be sold here.


Honda City
Originally developed for markets where customers downright refuse to buy hatchbacks, the current Honda City is a design coup: it’s a subcompact sedan that actually looks decent. Although Americans have become friendlier to five-door cars than have our counterparts in Thailand and India, where the City is a hot product, Fit sales have been hampered by the sole body style. At Ford, for example, the Fiesta hatch is a very strong seller—but it’s still outgunned by the dowdy Fiesta sedan two to one. The City could potentially double the Fit’s sales, which are on pace to just clear 50,000 this year.

Mini Crossover
Small crossovers may evoke the same gripe from you as ads for new singing reality shows—Another one? Shoot me now—but just as millions of Americans will tune out to “Vocal Cord Wars,” tens of thousands will buy Honda’s Fit spinoff. The CR-V, now in its fourth generation, is big enough for a smaller sibling, and Honda’s new jacked-up jackpot will join the Nissan Juke, Buick Encore, and an upcoming B-segment Jeep in the inchoate subcompact crossover segment.

Like you, we hoped that the announcement of Mexican-made Fit derivatives meant we’d be saying ¡Sí! to Si models. But Honda needs to get its mainstream house in order first, and building high-volume, lower-margin models in Mexico is a foundational move.

Source;
http://blog.caranddriver.com/next-honda-fit-will-spin-off-mini-crossover-sedan-for-u-s/

Honda Cars : Honda Mini Crossover Fit Twist revealed | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Honda has revealed the rugged-looking Fit Twist crossover, built for the Brazilian market

Honda has unveiled a rugged crossover version of the Fit MPV - which is badged Jazz in the UK - at the Sao Paulo Motor Show.

A Honda spokesman told us: “People here in Brazil like cars that are a bit tougher. We’ve made it tougher and sportier so it’s aimed at younger customers.”

Despite the plastic cladding and chunkier bumpers, which give the Jazz the look of a mini-crossover, nothing has been done to the suspension.

“Raising the car means you lose stability in the corners, and customers tell us they love the way the Fit drives so we’ve kept it the same – this car is just an image change.”

Unfortunately UK buyers won’t be able to get their hands on a Twist version of the Jazz, as this is strictly a Brazilian market-only model.

However the Jazz Si, based on the 1.4 ES model with firmer suspension and styling tweaks, was revealed back in July and offers UK customers a sportier take on the popular mini-MPV.

Source;
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/honda/60906/honda-fit-twist-revealed

Here are a few more photo's;
http://www.carscoop.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-version-of-honda-fit-with-crossover.html