I don't think this is the case globally - at least not that much more. Also the older designed Fit has had more time to recover design costs.

It really does not matter if a dealer only has a few cars. If they sit on the lot they will be inexpensive. If they sell quickly they will be closer to sticker.

Yes they make more on the Civic, but they make more still on the Accord. The more expensive the car the more profit. That is why they usually try to upsell, and why they like to overlap prices on models. Then the customer will see that for the price of a loaded entry level model then can get a basic version of the next model, and so on and so on.

Actually and Accord VP with the stick is around $1,000 more than the Fit (selling price - vs sticker on the Fit). So people may figure why not get the Accord (only 4 mpg less on the highway and much more passenger room etc.) Then they decide to get alloys etc, and before you know it they are buying a $20,000 car.

 

This is not news. Honda has been selling as many Civic sedans as they can get out the door of their production lines in Japan and at the Alliston, Ontario plant, mostly because the new Civic offers decent interior space, good performance and good fuel economy, especially with the excellent five-speed automatic. With the price of gasoline about to hit US$3.00 per US gallon very soon, small wonder why Civic sales has been hot lately.

 

I've had this thought that the Prius looks like a Star Trek shuttle craft that got in a front end collision with a mack truck!

 

And even though they are moving the Civic as quickly as they can build them, they are still advertising interest rate discounts, incentives and are negotiable. Here's hoping the same happens to the Fit when I'm ready to purchase one.

 

My take on the situation is that there is not much money to be made on these cars for the dealer. The production numbers are driven by dealership pre orders, not demand or customer deposits. The evidence I sight is that none of the local dealers in MN have any sort of pre advertising for this vehicle. It doesn't even appear on their websites, much less any sort of fanfare. We as consumers have to pull on these dealers to stock this car. That means paying near or above sticker so to tell the dealers that we want these cars. Shitty, but true.

 

I dont care how many they bring over as long as I get mine

 

No need to throw tons of ads at a hot, hot product unless you just want to upset everyone. I would think they'd use the "come and see the new Fit" type of ad as bait to get more people to visit the showroom.
Customer demand won't drive a lower priced car with lower profits for the manufacturer, the dealer, and the sales crew.
They probably won't have enough for awhile which will drive some people crazy and drive others to Civics or other makes in that size vehicle.

 

Honda is just responding to market. They can't do everything. If the Fit sells then Honda will build it in the US. They won't know until they see the demand. In the meantime they don't plan to have Civic's sold out with people waiting.

 

All the Dealers I've talked to are trying to get all the Fit's they can. Honda will find out over the next three quarters if American is ready for thr Fit.

 

Some journalistic pundits think the individuality of the Prius is the exact reason it is so popular. Everyone knows it is a hybrid, so the owners get the cache of being so obviously green. Honda hybrids are indistinguishable from the non-hybrids, and therefore don't sell as well to the hollywood crowd.

 

This is not bad news at all. The Civic and Accord are Honda's bread and butter, not the Fit. Naturally, Honda will promote, market, upsell and cross-sell the Civic much more aggressively than the Fit.

This all goes back to my argument of why the Fit will sell for invoice by May. Outside of this community, there just isn't a big demand for the Fit. Honda hasn't done too much marketing for the Fit up to this point, nothing like the aggressive marketing push we saw for the Civic. Plus the Fit will face stiff competition from the Yaris and Versa, which both are less expensive than the Fit, and a Mini Cooper redesign in the Fall.

 

I have to strongly disagree with that for a couple of reasons:

1. The price of gasoline is rapidly zooming up (it's already past US$3.00/US gallon in parts of the USA already).

2. People are interested in five-door hatchbacks again, mostly because they want cargo carrying flexibility minus the high fuel costs of a minivan or SUV. Why do you think Chevrolet has reported strong sales of the Aveo five-door hatchback, Toyota can barely keep the Matrix in stock, and the Ford Focus ZX3 and ZX5 hatchbacks are selling strongly? I actually expect Nissan to sell quite of lot of Versa hatchbacks for this very reason.

3. Strong positive word of mouth has made the Fit highly desirable. Just about every reviewer like the facts the Fit offers decent fuel economy, amazing interior space and storage flexibility for such a small car, and surprisingly good performance and handling.

 

I am a fan of the Fit, but even I may be tempted by the Civic when the time comes. I much prefer the hatchback, and the interior of the Fit looks much better. However, the Civic lx can easily be bought for the list price of the Fit sport. You don't give up any passenger room or mileage either.

Also, like many people looking at the Fit as a second car, my other vehicle is much bigger (a minivan) so I can always drive that if I need the space.

I still prefer the Fit, but I would like to get a sport without the aero kit.

I really wish this segment was more popular - it would mean more choices for all of us. On top of that the roads would be safer if most cars were this size. We would import less oil - helping national security etc. Unfortunately most people will changel driving habits before changing vehilce types.

I still see brand new SUV's with dealer tags - so people must not be that concerned with gas prices.

 

You're got to be kidding about that. In northern California, if you can get a 2006 Civic DX or LX sedan for list price it'll be kind of a miracle--Honda dealers are selling them off the lots as fast as they can get them in! Small wonder why I see a lot of 2006 Civic LX and EX models all over northern California streets.

 

I think that's the price you pay for living in CA.... ps i have friends in CA they say the same thing...

 

1. True, but people will still buy SUVs. Gas prices will never prevent me from buying a car that I want.

2. See number one. People will still buy SUVs. We have GM to thank for this.

3. Yes, the reviews on the Fit have been good and will continue to be good. However it is wrong to think that the Fit will be in such high demand, dealers won't be able to keep them in stock. Dealers themselves will try to upsell potential Fit owners to the Civic. And the average buyer won't even know the difference between a better equipped base Fit and a base Civic DX. 06 Civics are going for invoice or very close to it now and that puts it close to Fit pricing.

 

Not kidding. Fit Sport is about $15,700 Civic LX is readily available for a few hundred more.

Take a look at

www.autofairhonda.com and www.markroberts.com

 

The Fit automatic uses the sames tranny as the Civic and I as told at a Honda Ride and Drive event last week that Fit production will not increase unless sales of the Civic slow down. The production of the 2007 model will run for about 18 months and the total units for this run will be about 50,000.

 

Your comment that Dealers will try to upsell to a Civic makes no sense, unless they don't have any Fit's to sell. (That will proably be true)According to you the Civic is being sold for invoice. Why would they sell you a car for little or no profit to keep you from buying the Fit at MSRP.

Detroit is throwing incentives at the SUV to keep selling them.

 

That is the thing, I don't think the Fit will sell for MSRP past the initial first few weeks. And dealers do make money even if they sell new cars at invoice or under invoice. How? From 2% holdback, financing (yes the bank gives them a cut of this too) and from trade-ins.