Quick question: Why are the Japan Fits (JHM) showing that they are assembled in Mexico (11th number in VIN being an 'x'). Or maybe I'm just confused again.

 

Adding to the mystery is that El Salto (11th position "X" factory) is a different factory from Celaya. Is Honda just using the "X" to define cars that are normally produced in Mexico?

 

It must be a new plant code. The best HONDA VIN decoder I can find suggests that letters have already been overlaid for different countries. (E.g., B, C, E, F). Plus M is on Fits and HR-Vs known from Celaya and Celaya isn't even in that list and M is shown as Hamamatsu, JP, so add M to the list of overlaid meanings here. I can't find any source for a plant X in Japan.

 

Thanks for the quick response guys.

 

I'm not expecting Honda to put a turbo anytime soon in a Fit. If it happened in the next four years, I would be very surprised. The Fit's 1.5l is a new engine that gets great fuel economy when paired to a light car, and it meets emissions.

That being said, if you want the Fit, get it when you have the means. There's no need to wait for the 2017 model, since it will be identical to the current one on sale now. There will be plenty of JDM and Mexican made Fits in a few months, so you will have your pick of the litter.

 

I've been hearing this since the spring of '14. It's now nearly the end of '15. I still believe that Honda isn't really serious about selling the Fit in North America. It feels like they're treating the car as a "teaser" or a "loss leader" to get people into the showroom, while at the same time deliberately limiting the availability to try to "upsell" customers to an Accord or a CRV.


I realize this is a very competitive segment of the market, and margins are probably pretty slim on the Fit, so, in a way this makes sense, even if it is very frustrating to us Fit Freaks. It appears that Honda would rather risk losing some sales to the competition rather than be stuck with unsold inventory that would have to be discounted and sold at a loss.

To believe otherwise would be to believe that a company the size and scope of the Honda Motor Company, with all its worldwide manufacturing and engineering expertise, is so utterly incompetent that they absolutely cannot build and supply the car to the North American market.


I'm not naïve enough to buy that for a minute.

 

Or the recently introduced HRV.

 

Honda told us months ago that we would start receiving 2016 models in November, which has indeed been the case with my store. That being said, every region of the country is different. The fact that for CA and NJ Honda is the number one selling brand probably has an influence in that matter.

You local dealer should know what they are receiving for the next two months.

 

It's neither a question of competence nor one of "teasing" the market. Their assembly plant capacity is finite and adding marginal capacity is a very expensive proposition. So, sure, they will, to the extent possible, use that capacity to make the most profitable cars for the most profitable markets. The Fit in North America is neither. They also can't just decide "hey, let's start making US Fits at plant X next week." Even those kinds of decisions take a year or more to produce results. And they aren't free decisions either. They have to make more tooling, shutdown and re-tool the factory, revise the whole supply chain for that plant to make the right parts and get them there when needed, etc.

 

When Dodge was building the Ram Diesels in Mexico they had the same problem, the plant just could not deliver volume, shipping issues of parts killed them,, huge issues with electrical problems in the Ram trucks from that plant, they finally closed it ..

 

I find it unbelievable that Honda wouldn't research the experiences of other auto companies who have manufactured cars in Mexico before investing millions of dollars in a facility. Or that they wouldn't research transportation and other infrastructure issues. This is company with a world wide presence with factories in China, Indonesia, Eastern Europe and dozens of other countries, after all.


Then, being unable to reliably deliver cars from Celaya, they shut the plant down in early '15 to retool the plant to make HRVs (which Honda also seems to be unable to deliver).


Sadly, we'll never know how well the Fit COULD sell in the U.S. and Canada, as Honda can't/won't supply them in sufficient numbers.


I stand by my statement. Honda doesn't really WANT to sell the Fit here. I seriously wonder why they do at all.

 

Celaya is not Honda's first assembly plant in Mexico. And the US and Canada is not the only market it produces cars for. Assuming they aren't using Fit sales to make CAFE, if they really didn't want to sell the Fit in the US it would be very simple to stop. A *lot* simpler than adding capacity. I'm not denying that it's not a huge priority for them. Why should it be? Nor denying the widely reported startup issues at Celaya. But there is zero evidence that they are utterly failing today and very limited evidence that they are leaving thousands of units of monthly demand unsatisfied or going to competitor vehicles due to limited supply. How big do you think US/Canada demand is for Fits and HR-Vs when gas is as cheap as it is right now? And what's your evidence? I don't see reports of people paying premium prices to buy either.

 

Chicago is starting to get a decent supply in: HondaCityChicago has 8, and Cargurus.com shows 62 within 50 miles of 60435. That website way underestimates the number available, because it only counts dealerships that subscribe.

 

Quick question. Is the USDM Fit going to be made in Japan from now on? I have a 2009 Fit and will likely get a new one in 2017 or 2018 and would love a Japan made Fit.

 

For this model year it seems that the LX and EX Fits are made in Japan, with the EXL made in Mexico. Im basing this only on what my store and region have received for the 2016 model year. Of course this can change in the future, but Im pretty confident that Mexico will focus primarily on the HRV now and in the future.

 

Every 2016 Fit with manual transmission I have seen is a 3VIN from Mexico.

 

The EX-L is only available in the US with the CVT right? I have the LX as a loaner now and the CVT is absolutely fine for me, so the Fit I would buy would be the EX-L CVT.

I guess it just depends on the manufacturing capacity in Mexico and the US/ Canadian demand for the Fit

 

The EX-L available in the US is CVT only, and it's made in Mexico.

 

I've noted that Fit supply is pretty good here in SoCal with a stable population of 450 cars available in a 75-mile radius of me. This has relieved the stubborn attitude on the part of dealers that Fits had Tesla-like demand and has led to some concessions on price. Not a lot, but at least they aren't insisting on MSRP plus $$$ junk fees.

The bad news is if you want a stick. Supply has completely dried up with only six leftover 2015s available in the same radius. These may well be stale listings.

 

Here in Long Island NY I *never* spot any Fits (not 3rd-gen, anyway) in the wild. My Prius lease ends in August and I have my heart set on replacing it with a Fit EX CVT. Can I expect there to be enough inventory by then to get a decent deal? Or will I have to decide on something else, or extend my lease until the 17s come out?