And the reason I am having my brother test the waters with his buddy the Mazda dealer for a 5dr Mazda 3. I also won't have to worry about adding a dead pedal or center console, and I get rear disk brakes, option of a moonroof, and a significant amount more "go" (at the expense of gas mileage, though). It's more like a civic than Fit, but hell, Honda doesn't give us the civic hatches anymore.

I saw a Nissan Tiida (teeda or t-eye-da?) on the road today. Not bad, but a horrendous not-quite-gold-not-yellow-either color.

 

Did I mention the height adjustable driver's seat? Those of you who saw my picture will understand that's a nice added benefit.

 

most.retarded.marketing.quote.ever

so if you wayyyy under-produce a product for your supply chain it magically increases the product's quality? huh.

 

honda does indeed still make civic hatches (euro spec civic for example), just not for USDM.

 

In the US, only on the SL trim. S trim does not have the center armrest nor the height adjuster

 

A coworker has a Mazda 3 Sport. The back seat is useless compared to the one in the Fit.

Why doesn't Honda would adjust the ratio of manuals to automatics a few times per year on all their models to meet market demands?

 

Not sure what it is about people and Mazda 3s. The Mazda 3s I have seen are not nice cars, one friend is on replacement autobox #2 and the car still does not shift right, it eats tires, AC is "cool" at best (warm if you have more than two people in the car) and fuel economy is worse than that of my 1992 Toyota Camry 5S-FE/automatic wagon with 220K on the clock?

Anyhow, look at the months of sales (a few days in April and all of May, June and July) and the YTD figure (15,922) and the intended Fit number (reported to be 33,000 units) for the US in 2006. At 5,000 cars a month Vs 4,100 (33,000/8 months), they are above the target with five more months left in 2006 if they continue at this rate.

 

I disagree. Honda is missing out. Toyota sold 10,137 Yaris in July. Honda sold 3,135 Fit's in July.

http://www.toyota.com/about/news/cor...1-1-sales.html

Sure, some of those Yaris were sedans, but some people just want a dependable, small, fuel efficient car, and Toyota is doing a better job of filling that want/need. Toyota has a bigger share of the sub-compact market than Honda, therefore, Honda is missing out on potential sales. If Honda really wanted to, they could reduce production lines for the slower selling vehicles, and convert those to Fit production lines. The demand is there, and Honda knows it. They have outright admitted that they are not keeping up with demand.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060801/auto_sales.html?.v=15

 

i was interested in a mazda 3 right up to the point i test drove one. the interior is a total disappointment and was enough to turn me off of mazda 3's permanently.

the ride was pretty harsh too, compared to other sedans in the same price range.

 

agree 100%. honda most definitely misjudged the market and they are losing out.

 

Thanks for all the input. I know about the civic hatches in just about every other country but ours. Unfortunately, that doesn't do me any good, since I will be buying it in the States.

I'm not sure what it is between Honda and Mazda people. The two just don't get along. It seems like the Ford v. Chevy situation in the late 60's/early 70's. One of these days I am going to bump into someone with a cartoonish Civic Si consuming an RX-8 with the slogan "Hondas eat Mazdas for breakfast."

Unfortunately, it appears my buying decision is going to be based on availability. I would like nothing better than to be able to walk off the plane, into the local Honda dealer, say one Storm Silver Sport MT, hold the extras, and drive off the lot for something around MSRP. Based on what I see here though, I don't think that is going to happen.

I definitely agree Honda is losing a lot of potential sales. Their actions indicate the Fit is not a priority for them, so I guess they don't care. The problem is, I DO. I really do want the Fit. Anyone think I can start internet dealing now, and have one waiting for me when I get back?