Okay so I am interested in this car and went to the Honda web page. What terrible marketing? Am I a 16-year-old suffering from ADHD? Where is the brochure, where is the pdf of the user manual? Where's the "build your model"? Where are the list of trim colours? It is as if Honda does not want me to sell this car if I am over 30?

Sheesh. So is it possible to get the user manual of the US edition somewhere else?

 

They've left a lot of the marketing up to college students ... some of them have even come on these boards to brag about their efforts. It's been really, really hard to not go off on them about "what in the <expletive> were y'all thinking?!?" Between the "print your own stickers", "The Fit is GO!", the video game characters, and the "shrinky dinks", it's just plain insulting to anyone over the age of 10.

Most of the US dealerships should have the Fit brochures on hand now. I picked up two today (one to drool on, and one to keep for posterity). They're 6"x6", and about 50 pages long (not including fold outs).

As far as owner's manuals go... they'll be coming with the cars. They don't have one posted under Honda's Owner Link yet, so you can't sneak a peek.

 

Thanks. It's very frustrating. I don't understand what they are thinking. I am interested in the Fit because it looks like an excellent second car (our other car is a Mazda RX-8, its user manual was on the web three months before it came out anywhere in the world) - good mileage, modern safety features, ample cargo space, low price. The marketing seems to say that the only people interested in small cars are urban youngsters with surfboards and llamas (or is it a dog? I can't tell). I think it will drive away an audience that would be perfectly happy with it. Why is it that small cars are so infantilised in the US? There are perfectly good reasons for wanting a small car, even if you can afford a bigger one.

Argh, sorry for the ranting. My dealer thinks they are getting one in next week so I will go down for a test drive, assuming they don't throw me out for ruining their brand image.

 

Agreed. The Honda Fit website is a joke. I think they are trying to be hip and cool, but I hate it. Any website without a "Build You Own" link is insufficient. I checked other Honda models (thinking maybe that Honda's website just sucked) and they were fine.

 

ADd me. The "hip" attempt is pointless and doesn't work. the screensaver is not that good. The commercial where the two samuari jack type drawn cartoons jump at each others isn't attractive. I mean they got a good team they just don't use it. i love that si commercial where the civic si jumps on buildings. or the new commercial where it shows honda has best consumer reports and average mileage, with the "it's good to win".

 

There's the rub. If you buy the car, you're telling them with your $$ that their marketing was successful. If you want change, you'd better write Honda and tell them you're buying in spite of their marketing. Otherwise, they'll never know. Unless they read these forums...!

 

Honda / Acura is famously tightlipped - very stingy in the amount of actual factual info they release about models **before their actual release** Some kind of strategy, I suppose.

The Yaris website, right up until the cars physically arrived at dealerships, was similarly "gee whiz / teen-oriented" and also lacked a "build your car" feature.

I'm sorry for those who are earnestly trying to make buying decisions before the vehicles are physically in their towns. After 4/20 I believe Honda will appear to be the typically competent company their rep is built upon: full-featured website, all specs available. In the meantime we can just wince at their silly dorm room, Gen XYZ circle-jerkapalooza marketing efforts.

 

Yep. Nissan's got the build your own site up including estimated prices. They even ask you to say if you would purchase at that price. I'm not sure how much useful data they're getting, but it's kinda cool.

 

Ha-Ha, Honda is trying to scare off people like me. Tough luck Honda, I'm buying one and just to retaliate I'm taking it in to my local tuner shop and am going to put on a huge, huge wing, hood scoop and of course blue light washer nozzles.

Two can play at this game!

Did I forget anything?

 

Please tell me your kidding? The last thing the world needs is another riced out Honda.

 

"In the meantime we can just wince at their silly dorm room, Gen XYZ circle-jerkapalooza marketing efforts."

Please don't include Gen X in there. Their age group experienced both "old-school" and new-tech automobiles. Most of these people are actually quite knowledgeable about cars and also don't necessarily approve of these marketing tactics either!

In my experience, über-cynicism is what characterizes Gen X (what a lazy moniker to have foisted upon you by a previous, navel-gazing generation) , therefore such a website would be considered infantile and avoided like the plague if not for the Fit's overwhelming interest as a vehicle.

 

I agree. Trying too hard to be hip is extremely unhip, and Honda is trying too hard.

 

(Tech_Monkey jumps on the bandwagon)

Fortunately this will all be over soon. As soon as the Fit is officially released here, the mini site will be removed and a regular information/build your own page will be up on the Honda site. They're just trying to create hype before it's released and specifically going trying to go head to head with the xB crowd. Over the past 5 or so years, Honda largely seems fallen out of favor with the younger auto enthusiasts. I think between this (and even the Si), Honda is trying to reclaim the youth segment that has been slowly slipping away from it.

 

xB crowd? It's more like the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Fisher-Price" crowd.

I was at least pleased to see the brochure contains none of that stuff; though the baby llama in back seat is still there.

 

I'm in the over 50 crowd! and what sold me was the llama in the back seat!

 

What I would do... if "build your own" was possible... is click on Base model, then click to add "cruise control"... then ask for the price. Far as I know that is not possible. If you want cruise control, you have to go for the Sport model. Please tell me I'm wrong... and I'll buy the car tomorrow.

 

What you "could do" with the llama in the back seat is what sold me

 

If you go to the Honda Canada website, www.honda.ca, you will see that they have the usual features for the FIT, such as Build and Price, Download a brochure, etc. This all happened earlier than the US because of the April 3 release here. I am sure that the US website will be updated by the release date.
I do agree that the preliminary marketing was poor though and actually downright annoying.

 

I think the critter is an alpaca. I stopped by the dealer and asked for the brochure and it was the only one lying out on the counter. Looks like Honda isn't even giving them adequate literature! I've been avoiding the "official site" and agree that the downloads and games are geared to 10 year olds. This forum has been a good place for info, plus I signed up for Google alerts and check Yahoo! News. Finally Honda allows everyone to access their media site, which is more down to earth than "The Fit is Go!". The back door way people got their information drew them to the Fit. It is a sensible car with enough sportiness to appeal to young buyers, but Baby Boomers like it, too. Honda should have been making the point that this is a car that has wide appeal, even if you don't have a large pet or a surfboard. Even SUV drivers sick of stopping at the gas pump may find that the interior room and ease of handling will make it easier to give up their gas hogs.

 

I think Honda should do a commercial, where they start off, showing a couple, getting ready for a trip. They just keep shoving more and more stuff into their (what appears to be) minivan or SUV. You don't really see the vehicle, just the tailgate, and it's filmed really close up and from the ground, making the car seem huge. Of course, it MUST be huge, because look at all of the crap they're putting into it!

As they drive, they emphasize the sport's paddle shifters, as they pass an 18-wheeler ... show them enjoying music, using their iPod music link, etc. All shots are set up, so you have no idea how big the car really is. You just see the driver and passenger, enjoying their trip, in their big, roomy (suggested) SUV/Minivan (heh-heh).

They get to their destination, where all of the spots are marked "COMPACT." Glancing at each other, the driver shrugs, and says "Good thing we Fit!", and as the camera zooms out, you notice that they're in a Honda Fit, which of course "fits" into the space, with ease.