Fit and Trim: Honda set to bring car smaller than Civic to U.S., but no separate brand planned

DETROIT -- Honda plans to sell in the United States a variation of the front-drive subcompact Honda Fit, which is sold in Japan and Europe.

Honda executives have said the company will bring a car smaller than the Civic to this country but until now have not identified it.

"It will be a variation of the Fit, and it will be here not too far in the future," said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co. Inc., at the Detroit auto show.

"Toyota has done a good job with the Scion," he said. "So that's where we're looking, to bring back the youth we've lost. With the current cars we have, that segment has shrunk."

No separate brand

But unlike Scion, Honda will not establish a separate brand for the new small car, Colliver said.

Also, the small car will not be shipped bare like the Scion and accessorized according to dealer and customer orders.

"We had conversations on whether to bring it in slashed down but decided against it," he said. "We plan to load it up. It's better to build it the way they want it. We also looked at establishing a separate brand for the new car but decided against it."

He declined to provide any other details about the car.

Michael Robinet, vice president for global forecast services at CSM Worldwide in Farmington Hills, Mich., said the U.S. Fit will arrive early in 2006 as a 2007 model. He said it will be powered by a 1.5-liter engine equipped with dual overhead camshafts and direct fuel injection.

Some dealers believe the sticker price will be about $12,000. The base price of the 2005 Civic is $13,675 including a $515 destination charge.

Civic sales, aided by cut-rate loans, rose 3.2 percent to 309,196 last year.

Factory equipped

Robinet said although Scion has done a good job attracting customers who want to accessorize their cars, he believes Honda will do well equipping its vehicles at the factory.

"Honda does a lot of production here, so they can more accurately predict what the customers want," Robinet said. "Honda would rather make sure it has the Honda quality through and through and their warranty on it. There is less room for error."

Toyota introduced its Scion youth brand nationally last year. It posted sales of sales of 99,259 in 2004 vs. 10,898 in 2003 when the vehicle was sold in limited markets. Scion has three models.

"We're all hoping Honda brings in a new product line with a more affordable car that our younger and less-affluent buyers can purchase," said Larry Mallory, chairman of the Honda dealer council in a recent interview.

Mallory, owner of Honda of Kirkland in Kirkland, Wash., also said the dealers did not want a separate franchise for the small car: "The two-channel system they currently have, Honda and Acura, is enough to accommodate any and all new products coming out."


KATHY JACKSON | Automotive News
Posted Date: 1/25/05

 

is this car really smaller than a civic??

 

Someone should lock this, this is 4 years old.

 

Oh boy I cant wait for 2007 so I can get one....wait a minute....lol

 

fail for bringing back a thread from '05

 

lol ah man, i want a FiT, and i was reading this and was like maybe il just wait for this, then i read along and blah!

super old thread

 

This is a good post for historical purposes. Honda made a smart move by not making a separate brand to sell the Fit. Honda had successful sales by not creating a separate brand; that helped sell the car to every age group. Senior citizens who bought the car could pass it onto their grandchildren without having their grandchildren becoming embarassed of inheriting a car from their grandparents. Moms and dads could also use the Fit as a nice family car without breaking the bank to pay for gas. The Fit covers a huge market with plenty of overlaps.

 

almost 8 years old post lmao

 

that's gotta be a record!

interesting to see the prelaunch commentary though