Just like in the past Nissan did not believe there was a market here for the Skyline. (This is what I got directly from Nissan Corporate), and Subaru was afraid that the WRX wouldn't do well here (They only released 5,000 cars the first shipment I believe).

It took the WRX to do well here before Mitsubishi brought in the EVO...

It's all about marketing I believe. They have to believe there is enough market here for them to bring the car in. It is a pretty big investment.

 

Something that car enthusiasts have to accept is the same thing that enthusiasts in almost every area of interest have to accept: companies have to be profitable to stay in business, and thus have to make decisions based on what will be most profitable... "I'd buy a factory turbocharged Honda Fit with 17's and a navigation system, and so would my FitFreak friends!" is a pointless statement.

That being said, there's no CVT... yet. CVT costs more money, and with the Fit being just introduced now, it behooves Honda to keep the price as low as it can be (which the weak dollar makes harder than usual). Notice though, that each model year, you see new options being introduced. I wouldn't be surprised if you see CVT offered next year or the year after. Makes it look like "progress," even though they're just holding back and giving you stuff they already have.

My dad bought a Kia Amanti a couple of years ago. In Korea, it's available with a nav system... the US version doesn't. Why? Because they wanted to be able to introduce the car by saying, "Fully loaded, it's still under $35K" or whatever. Still no nav available, but you'll likely see it soon.

 

They're also marketing the Fit as sporty and putting it as the "elite sporty econobox" and the CVT might not fit into that. I wonder if we'll see it in the rumored hybrid fit (or non-fit same market niche hybrid).

 

does anyone else find it hilarious that somehow people thinking that americans are a bunch of fat sweaty pigs that dont care about the environment has more to do with the fits availabilty than honda's marketing strategy? gotta love how gm and bush admin. conspiracy theories were thrown in there as well.

i think murky has a lot of it right. also, when they start to manufacture this car in the states it will probably be cheaper to produce. that will in turn make it possible to provide more options with minor increases to retail price.

 

You're giving Americans too much credit. Most don't even know how a regular engine works. I recall in Germany or somewhere overseas, people have to go through 3 different certifications before they can get their driving license. One of the course includes emergency maneuvers. How cool is that!

 

You strike a good point. In film photography, Kodak is very well known to discontinue the films that professionals adore the most. Techpan which is the finest grain film in the world was discontinued last year. Why? Only the purists knew how to process it correctly and consumers always ended up with bad results because they would drop it off at the lab or they would not know how to hand process it correctly. We as enthusiast play such a small role in the manufacturer's total goal. It's sad but true.

 

It would make it easier for the Japanese manufacturers if the US drove on the same side of the road and didn't require special bumpers.

Market size is a big factor. See how they can't cope with supply and demand currently with the launch of the Fit. In a tiny market like Australia where pretty much the same vehicle as sold in Japan can be sold here if there is insufficient vehicles to meet demand its just a matter of a month or so to ship enough to solve any problem. Guess thats why we were the 1st country outside Japan to get the VTEC Jazz way back in 2001/2. Got to love that CVT too!

 

The answer is simple. Because traditionally you Americans don't like what you call "sub-compact" cars. You have been wedded to your big gas guzzlers. Most of the rest of the (developed) world are not so they get it first cos it is more likely to sell there.

 

It's sad but true. If I brought you from Kent, England to Decatur, Texas you would just laugh. Women drive by themselves in H2 Hummers, people regularly commute in huge four door, four wheel drive pickups by themselves, and no one can believe I can carry the things I can in my little Fit which is averaging 35 MPG combined.

 

No..contrary to some silly "what you have to learn to drive" stuff, it is not the best fit for the market - if you want to introduce a simple, understandable new product.

Given Honda, it's actually suprising that they didn't introduce the CVT and confuse the market. The confusion would be- what is the Fit in 15 seconds. Americans are fine with how a transmission works... when they care.

 

The American market wouldn't have been receptive to smaller, more efficient cars like the Fit.

Now we are. With gas prices double what they were three years ago, larger less efficient vehicles are quickly losing their appeal.

 

Yep, I got a laugh when someone mentioned the Bush administration. Americans liked big vehicles long before Bush was in office. The SUV fad started gaining momentum back in the 90s. Cheap gas fueled that fad. I think it's kinda American's want to fit in and be 'cool' that also fueled it.

I'm a pretty conservative person politically, but I don't like huge vehicles. Heck, I had an Insight for about a year... not because I hug trees or think global warming is going to fry my brains out of my head... I liked the technology... and I loved going 500-650 miles on 10 gallons of gas, no matter how cheap it was!

 

I thought the big deal in bringing the Evo VIII & Skyline to the US was for emissions reasons. The cars would have to be able to also pass California emissions.

 

Isn't it just ridiculous. Pretty soon people are just going to be buying SUV's to show off their wealth, b/c the average income person won't be able to afford to fill up the thing.

 

The short answer is Honda marketing mis-judged the market for an economical hatchback. It's why Honda does not offer a Civic hatch besides not wanting to lower the Civic's image because they percieve that Americans percieve that if a car is offered in a hatch version somehow it's a downscale econobox.

But hey, it wasn't just Honda, go back to the posts pre-release on this board and see all the posts saying Fits would be selling for invoice right now and anybody who paid MSRP on a pre-order was dumb. HA HA!

The only reason Honda is offering the Fit in the U.S. is because of Toyota's Scion Xa and Xb. So Honda brings a paltry number of Fits into the NA market to get showroom floor traffic hoping everybody buys up to a Civic or Accord instead. If you really want a hatch and not pay the dealer mark-up on the Fit, you get something from the competition.

I agree with the idea that a mini-van is a big hatchback, same way as I think a Fit is a mini-minivan.

 

the fact that demand has increased for small economical hatchbacks because of the lack of supply does not mean that honda's marketing strategies have been a mistake. once again, high demand and low supply is great for honda.

now, i guess you could say that honda's strategy has not been aggressive, but its very smart, very safe, and very profitable. you guys are monday quarterbacking this whole thing and in the process you are mixing your opinions of what you want or wanted to happen with a strategy.

in the end, honda is still growing and still making money.

 

honda-styled hatchbacks just done sell well in the US, look at the last SI

 

Well the EP3 Si didnt sell well; but I dont think the main reason was its hatchback configuration.

I believe the main reason for its low sales numbers was a lack of performance. The EP3 revved lower, and accelerated slower than the previous Si (EM1). The EP3 driving experience simply was too boring. The only thing special about the car was the damn rally mounted shifter!

In terms of performance, the EP3 was a step backwards. If the EP3 was made in a coupe configuration instead of a hatch, I think it still would have sold just as bad.

 

recall last Honda Civic hatch back EP3 - not a successful product in my opinion and didn't sell that many. hatchbacks are not very popular. Most prefer sedans. Reason why the Civic is not offered in a hatch.

With the increase of gas prices, Honda decided to bring a fuel saving model ato North America.

Honda Fit is a really great car for urban driving.

Ultimately the public reception and sales numbers have to show how successful the product is.

Currently I don't think Honda is making that much profit off the Fit, since it costs them more money to import each one from Japan.

Toyota brought their small "world car" the Yaris and that left Honda no choice they had to compete. Imagine if they didn't bring it over and how much flak they would take. Though Honda would prefer to reap the higher profits from the Civic, they rather get a piece of the action on the sub-compact then just sit on the sidelines.

 

We got our fits already closed