I recently visited one of Honda's trim manufacturing plants feeding the Van plant, down south. While there, an announcement was made, "will the owner of the Honda Fit please go to their vehicle". I figured I was blocking some delivery or something. I arrived to a team of engineers wanting the keys, armed with micrometers, clip boards and pens. Nothing too glamorous; they were measuring vent louver movement, how many dimples per cm on the dash plastic and lord knows what else. When I asked about how soon before we see them making it here...tight lipped and non to eager to offer any info. I took that to mean its' inevitable before they begin US manufacturing. Then again, some of these plants are responsible for building a certain amount of "service parts", molded, painted and inventoried. My spies are watching!

 

That's really interesting - I can imagine it was weird to walk out to see all those engineers wanting to look at your car!

 

The Japanese engineers were obviously familiar with it but the Yanks had only seen internal press documents. I gave them my pro / con gripes: Pro - Textile inserts on the doors, gauge selection and illumination and so on.
Con, they got an ear full: No dead pedal, plastic easy to scratch, poor paint quality (they even admitted they produce better quality than JDM mfg!), head light aim, but all minor items. The sum of the pros trumps the cons.

 

I would go with the 2nd party domestic parts supplier for non production purposes.
I am sure if they were going to make real Fit parts HONDA would supply exact specs.

 

I'm curious about any Fit news for the new Honda plant announced for Indiana.

 

If you haven't already seen the articles posted, here's the one from Honda World News. Indiana beat out 4 other cities vying for the Honda plant. Evidently it's going to get its engines from the Ohio plant, and build 4 cylinder vehicles. As usual Honda is innovative, allowing them to build more than one model in the same plant, plus keep their environmental footprint small. Heard that Michigan sent a rep to Japan to try to convince Honda to build in Detroit. Ohio already has the engine plant and Accords are built in Marysville, OH. Being next door probably helped Indiana get the new plant -- and let's hope Fits will be rolling off the assembly line in '08. I think the Fits we're buying and longing for now are the trial balloon for American-made models.

6/28 Honda World News:

New Indiana plant – 4 cylinder vehicles, environmental impact controls

http://world.honda.com/news/2006/c06...tomobilePlant/

 

Yup, Michigan sent our Gov. Granholm to lure the business here. Either her wart infested face or our UAW trying to unionize the labor force nixed the deal. I don’t blame Honda, looking out for its best interests, it makes CENTS! Better to find an unjaded labor pool.

 

Yeah - you think Granholm is bad wait till you see how bad Devosshole can screw stuff up - I work in GR and he's ruined this town.
Also his wifey has been quoted as saying the problem in Michigan is that its' work force is paid too much...
Jennifer put our best interests on the table and it just ended up that Indiana was willing to whore itself more than us...

 

Hoping to see local Fits! And definitely hope buying now encourages expansion of production here.

 

6/29/06 Google Alert:

“Treehugger” article on Indiana plant:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006...da_indiana.php

 

Actually I heard from the dealership I bought my fit from said that next year's model is going to be redesigned and were going to be assembled in America

 

A year from now, for the New Greensburg assembly plant, would be very optimistic. I've yet to see any request-for-quote(s) come through our office or our competitors regarding the paint shop. 18 months from ground breaking to production ready is more likely. And that’s quite speedy in itself. Honda likes to take ownership form the contractors as soon as possible and thoroughly train their NEW work force. Not like others that keep us around well into the production launch. Honda is much more self sufficient than the rest. Baptism by fire for the new guys! They realize that their best expertise is in-house. After all, they build cars and we build factories. Haden tried both with the new Toledo Jeep facility. They built the paint shop and were to operate the production side as well. They went belly up with that fiasco. Live 'n learn.