meGrimlock

Honda Claims a ‘Perfect Fit’

After sweeping the North American car and truck awards, Honda took the wraps off the U.S. version of its smallest car.

Due in showrooms in April, the 2007 Fit subcompact hatchback will be Honda’s lowest-priced vehicle, with a starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price between $13,000 and $14,000.

It also will be fuel-thrifty, with an estimated fuel economy rating of 33 miles a gallon in city driving and 38 mpg on the highway. The only engine is a 109-horsepower 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine with Honda’s VTEC technology.

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Yet the five-door, five-passenger Fit comes standard with many features usually found on more expensive cars, as well as some innovations. For example, six airbags, including curtain airbags, are standard. Buyers who want an automatic transmission will get a five-speed automatic, not a four speed. And in a first in the segment, the Fit Sport model with automatic transmission has steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters.

All Fit buyers also can add a segment-exclusive Honda Apple iPod Music Link accessory that allows full use of the iPod features via the controls on the Fit’s audio head unit.

Small But Roomy
The Fit is only 13.1 feet long, but its interior passenger volume is a surprising 90.1 cubic feet. This is about equal to the 90.9 cubic feet found in a Honda Civic sedan.

Thanks to a low cargo floor, there’s 21.3 cubic feet of cargo area behind the Fit’s second-row seats, which is more than the 12 cubic feet found in the trunk of a Civic. The Fit’s rear seats also fold flat, down on the low floor, for more cargo space. In addition, the rear seat cushions can be pushed upward against the seatbacks for a different kind of cargo configuration not available in other small cars.

The Fit has been sold in Japan and Europe for years but has never been in the U.S. before. Honda spokeswoman Sara Pines said Honda officials have been researching the timing for the Fit for years and decided to go ahead now that the Civic has moved up in its segment. The starting MSRP for a 2006 Civic is $14,360. The Civic has been Honda’s smallest vehicle in the U.S.

Dick Colliver, executive vice president for American Honda Motor Co., said the new car is a “perfect Fit” and declared that “There’s nothing undersized about this car’s safety, performance, advance features and design.”

“We feel it will fit perfectly into people’s lives,” he added. Shortly after he spoke, five Fits raced onto the stage in something of a mad, energetic scramble.

Ageless Appeal
Christina Ra, Honda product planner for the Fit, said the car is expected to appeal both to young, entry-level buyers as well as older buyers who might want a second or third car in the household.

Colliver projected 33,000 Fit sales this year in the U.S. and an annual rate of 50,000 sales.

In addition, he noted Honda will introduce a re-engineered and redesigned CR-V SUV in fall 2006. For the first time, the CR-V production will come out of an assembly plant in Ohio, he said.

Just past a record-breaking calendar 2005 in U.S. sales, Honda will set another sales record of some 1.3 million U.S. vehicle sales in calendar 2006, Colliver said.

And by 2007, Honda will have a design studio in southern California just for its luxury Acura brand, which marks its 20-year anniversary in March, officials announced.


Honda showed the U.S. version of the Fit subcompact, which arrives in showrooms this April.


At some 13 feet long, the Fit becomes Honda’s smallest car. Starting price is between $13,000 and $14,000.


Despite its small size, the Fit includes a cargo area that’s roomier than expected because of the low load floor.


Among the novel features of the Fit are rear-seat cushions that can fold upward off the floor to provide room for tall cargo items.


Fit’s standard features include air conditioning; power windows, door locks and mirrors; six airbags; and an audio system with a CD player.

originally from:
http://autoshow.msn.com/as/article.a...Maker&GT1=7648

meGrimlock

small hatches have never had stellar sales in the US, but with the ever present aveo, the popular mini, the upcoming yaris, sucess of the xA, rumors of the mazda2 coming to the states, its about time honda brought over their city cars from over the pond.