A salesman at one dealership told me the reason Fits are so rare right now is that they share a transmission with another Honda, I think the '06 Civic? He said when Honda's done making that other model for '06, Fit production will step up and there will be plenty to go around.

Anyone heard this before?

 

complete BS. Honda's Japan factory just isnt cranking out enough Fits for the demand. Remember the less Fits the more demand, the more demand the more $$$ for Honda.

 

Sounds like bullshit to me. but im not sure on what tranny is used so i dnk

 

How? The invoice price is the invoice price. High demand means more money for Honda dealers after markup, not Honda itself.

 

A owner of a honda dealer that I know was told by honda they cant keep up with the production of the 4 cyl motors that are in demand.

I don't think that holding back production to boost the price by a couple of thousand $'s is honda's plan, they would be better off cranking out as many units as possible and selling more. People will buy other cars like the yaris or the versa and honda will lose sales.

 

I agree with Joe, Honda doesn't get any more money from dealers' markups. In fact, it seems like they'd rather dealers sell at MSRP so more people are inclined to buy.
So why aren't Fits more available if it's not the transmission thing? Anyone?

 

Right now: Demand > Supply

 

What follows is my understanding based on reading I have done on the internet. Since I'm not a Honda insider, I may or may not have the story right.

The short answer as to why Fits are scarce in the U.S. is that the factory is the bottleneck.

The long answer is that Fits for the U.S. market are currently made exclusively at the Honda Suzuka factory in Japan. This factory also produces Fits for the Japanese market and Jazzes for the European market as well as Civics for the Japanese and other world markets. The Suzuka factory is already in full production with no excess capacity. Civics, like Fits, are selling as fast as they can be made. To make more Fits, they would have to reduce Civic production. Since a Civic has a higher profit margin that a Fit, it would not make financial sense for Honda to shift production from Civics to Fits. The Suzuka factory is expected to continue to be the bottleneck until Honda can open a Fit assembly line in the U.S. or start importing Fits from Brazil or China.

 

Ding! Winnar!

 

Well from what I can see, the shortage seems limited to the USA. Because I've been to 3 dealerships around my area(near Ottawa, Canada) and they all had about 6-7 Fits each.

 

The funny thing is, Canada seems to have approximately half the number of Fits delivered monthly compared to the US, but with 10x less people.

 

i'm in canada and have a 2 month wait for mine too.

 

But they're considerably more expensive in Canada, right? I'm going up to BC in a couple days but I don't think it'd be worth paying the extra $$ just to have it a little sooner.

 

i paid 23xxx for a MT sport after taxes

 

yup,
we paid 23,300 for our sport auto after taxes in Alberta.

May be high to some but I think it is a good deal.

 

In BC you're looking at $25,000 after taxes for that same sport auto

 

LOL - And if they charged those prices in the US, all of our dealers would have 6-7 on the lot as well

 

Honda is always VERY conservative with new car launches. When I was with Acura we had the same situation with the TSX. 4-5 per month and demand out the door. A couple of things that could change is that the new CRV will be made in the US freeing up some capacity, also the RSX/Integra is made at the same facility as the Fit. I expect to see a slight jump in production after teh first of the year. But you won't see anyting like 100kunits until the US plant in IN is open.

 

Dammm!! I pay $17,300 and didn't way anything but a week for a manual sport. maybe I was luky to buy before the boom, but Here in Puerto Rico, every time I pass a honda dealer, there are plenty of them, I mean 4 or 5 and do not tell me they are not selling cause they are. I have been there and people love the fit, Tho the yaris is Way cheaper and toyota has made so many of them ( like a plague). Plus now the versa is here, so more fits to buy (market share).
I saw one dealer that have them in a front line .every color base, amd then every color sport. Dunno the thanny cause I just pass by but the point is that there are but no much manual, if any.

By the way 17,300 was sticker with taxes for my Taffeta white manual sport.

 

You're around Ottawa too?

Ever notice how all those Fits are automatics?

This lack of supply is great for those that plan on selling their Fit, shitty for those that want one.