This explains the low inventory.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...306119947/1117

 

 

This raises the value of our cars, though I'm sorry to hear Honda is in the position it is. The Fit is still cheap to own relatively speaking, regardless of gas prices.

 

Why don't they just raise the MSRP? I'm glad I only paid $15,500 for my Fit Base. But I would've paid another $1-2k more just to own the "Honda premium" in engineering and quality.

Hyundai is charging similar prices ($15k+) for the Accent ... and the FIT is a better car.

 

I mentioned this many moons ago. When I bought my Fit, the exchange was 88/1 and it cost me $22430, if I were to buy it today...$25630. This is another reason the Fit is not outfitted the same way in North America as it is here, how many people would pay over $22k for the Fit.

 

I guess I see the wisdom in the Mexico plant, now. As long as Honda keeps the build quality top-notch, maybe it's worth the trade off for a few nicer features in 2014.

 

They need to do something with the CRZ I mean it's sales are down 81% in the month of May and the Fit is down 34.5%. I believe that the Fit is down due to gas prices leveling out and I would imagine Honda holding back production on a car that loses them money but for the CRZ I think it's for lack of appeal. I think it's a cool car IF it had back seats and it wasn't hard to see behind it.

 

Sales are down because there are hardly any available. There are threads all over the CRZ forum trying to figure out where they can buy one because no one has them in stock right now. I know for a fact that there are only 2 left in Louisiana. Both are black on black EX AT with Navi models since I bought the last 6MT.

You don't want back seats in a CRZ. That's just a hospital trip waiting to happen.. No one other than a 8 year old could sit in them and the size of people in the US these days makes it pointless.. Also I don't see how it's hard to see behind. The center bar blocks the headlights of other vehicles and pretty much nothing else.

 

Honda is not really sending over the CR-Z, it is even worse at losing money than the Fit. If I wanted a CR-Z, even the low-end Beta model, it would still cost me about $29k. The Black edition, price rises to around $34k. Thank you US Government for allowing the $uck to become the new world peso.

 

The back right window made it hard for me to see as it didn't align properly with my eye line as I'm 6'3". I feel the same way about the little window up front in the Fit, it would be great for a shorter person but I just can't see it clear enough. I did like the 6 speed though I thought that was nice but overall the Fit had back seats that I would want eventually and the space I needed.

 

Ah I can see where you'd have a problem. I'm only 5'5". I rarely use them though because of how awkward they are. Just adjust the mirrors to get around that. It's definitely a car that takes some getting used to. I love it now though.

 

The poor relation between dollar and yen is the fault and partly the problem is the low amount they can get here to spread fixed costs over.
Worse witgh government printing dollars as fast as they can don't expect the ratio to get better.

Then how about the 118 mpg Fit hybrid promised early next year.

 

Not a hybrid, but pure battery electric, like the Nissan Leaf.

 

My mistype. It if pure electric.

 

The Fit used to be the most expensive car in its class. That said, the competition is at or surpassing the Fit in many areas. Soooo....maybe raising prices on a new older body style is not a great idea.

 

I believe the CR-Z would sell better if it had a more powerful gas engine as an option. Become a modern CR-X

 

Honda loses money because the value of the yen compared to the dollar has increased considerably. Thats what happens when you print money to support spending without income.
When you just raise prices here where competition has leveled you lose sales. Its self-defeating.
Check sales of Versas and

 

Interesting read. In another 2-3 years they might all be Mexican made so I guess we bought ours at the right time. It will be interesting to see if we get any Japanese imports of the redesigned Fit (~2014) before the Mexican factory comes on line.

CR-Z was just a total design miss. A "sporty" and "fuel efficient" hybrid hatchback that can't fit anything, isn't sporty, and gets mediocre MPG for a hybrid.

 

In another 5 years more likely Chinese made.Like Japan, China is making great strides in quality thanks to Honda and other manufacturers teaching them SQC standards and processes. The production costs for a plasnt serving a billion and a third buyers overwhelms fixed costs and shipping. Within 5 years China will sell 30 million cars a year (we can't sustain even 15 million per year).
According to Automotive News Honda has restructureddesig n and development jobs to more closely follow Sochiro' concept. A junior Porsche hybrid would have been Sochiro's approved offering fort the CRZ, and several in tyhe compasny lobbied for that, but lost to the greenies.
It would not be difficult to turbo or supercharge the 1500 cc engine to at least 150 hp and leave the electric motor alone; once done thir CRZ plant would be on overtime.

 

The CRZ was Honda getting lazy. That's it. Honda is a company that produces only when there are competitors chasing it, and when the designed the CRZ, it looked like 40mpg was all they needed to get from a sporty car to lure people in. So they slapped together some old hybrid technology into an old (Fit) platform and shook each other's hands at length. Hyundai really focused on engineering efficient parts and packaging and knocked out a Veloster with more room, more power, and more MPG, all for less money (no batteries!).

I do believe that if Honda were to start the CRZ now, they'd surpass the Veloster in MPG, handling, ride comfort and peak (extremely high RPM) power by taking the Mazda approach and trying to lighten every single piece of the drivetrain. Maybe the next CRZ will do that .. well, there won't be one :P

(I did hear it is selling great in JP and other places. I suspect the reason is that much more driving in JP is stop & go, or low-speed highways, and the hybrid tech does pay off in the real world there, so it actually is a much more efficient "sports car" than, say, the Civic Si hatch, Fit RS, or Miata. Gas and taxes are so expensive that people really prefer the smaller engined cars. In the US that isn't true.)