We took delivery of our 2015 Fit EX in August, and have been mystified ever since. In the Atlanta metropolitan area, my wife and I have seen fewer than a half-dozen other 2015 Fits. No, we don't drive all over the place, but do live close-in, use the interstates, and still feel like we are piloting a flying saucer (which I love, but the experience remains a mystery). I don't know whether this is regional, but we have seen NO advertisements for Fit, and when a gaggle of Honda models show up in a Honda promotional TV ad, guess what, no Fit! Who knows something I don't, and can pull this rabbit out of the hat???

 

Don't feel too badly! It was months before I saw another 2012 Fit Sport! As a matter of fact, I can just about count the number that I've seen (in the Metro area) on two hands! I DID manage to talk to the owner of a 2015 Fit, and look it over. I have since seen ONLY this same Fit, so enjoy your "uniqueness" while you can!! LOL!

 

Right from the start, I believe that Honda doesn't really WANT to sell the Fit in the U.S. They offer it because their competition offers a variety of small hatchbacks, and with the demise of the Civic hatchback (and the fact that the Civic has grown too large to be a subcompact), the Fit is the obvious choice.


To be sure, I DID see a couple of Fit commercials last year, when you couldn't get one. I do agree, though, that when there's a Honda sales event, or any commercial showing the full Honda car line, the Fit is always conspicuous by its absence.


I think it's because the profit margin on the Fit is so tight. Honda doesn't make much money on the Fit, so they don't try to promote it. When the car was made in Japan, margins were tight because of the unfavorable exchange rate between the dollar and the Yen, as well as high labor and transportation costs. Moving production to Mexico should have helped save on labor and transportation costs, but the savings was eaten up by upgraded equipment at the various trim levels (moon roof, leather seating options, back-up and lane-change cameras, upgraded audio systems, keyless entry), so Honda is still probably not making much on the car.


This has put Honda in a bit of a bind. They can't really raise the price of the Fit as there's a lot of competition in this market segment. Also, they have to keep the price of the Fit under the Civic. People won't want to pay more $$$ for a smaller car. The best they can do is try to steer as many customers as possible to bigger (and more profitable) cars and SUVs, like the CRV and the forthcoming HRV.


I find it ironic, that Honda has (IMO), probably the best car in it's class, but it's almost as if they don't want anybody to know it. That the car sells as well as it does without any advertising at all on Honda's part is testimony to what a great car it is.

 

When was the last time you saw a commercial for any car in this segment??? I can't think of any except maybe for the Versa a year ago or something.

 

I have to agree with Redd on this one - I rarely if ever see an ad mentioning a car in this segment.

 

Feel good about driving a car that "sells itself".

 

Could be the CAFE rules for car makers? Have to have some sales of fuel efficient cars to offset the thirsty (but more profitable) high end vehicles.

 

Ads cost money. Cheap cars don't make money.

 

I think you just hit the right answer

 

Half-way through at 30-day stay in Japan. Fits (08' to H-RV's) ALL over the place. Feel like Roger Rabbit in Tune Town, where these funny little "cheap" cars are going wild!