Honda has sold more than 2 million versions of its small Fit/Jazz five-door economy cars. Although the car has only been on sale in North America since April 2006, it has been sold throughout the world for six years. As worldwide fuel prices continue to rise, so do sales of fuel efficient vehicles like the Fit and Jazz.
The Fit, as it’s called in North and South America, Japan and China, is manufactured in six different factories in five different countries. The rest of the world calls the car Jazz, although it’s essentially the same vehicle world-wide.
According to Honda’s sales figures, approximately 962,000 Fits have been sold in Japan since June ‘01. North Americans have picked up 77,000 of the cars since April ‘06. Because the Fit was introduced so late in North America – key Honda market – the car will have a longer shelf life than Honda’s typical four or five year cycle.
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07/17, 9:04 AM
posted by:
global_lightning
In many respects the Fit/Jazz replaced the Civic hatchback at the bottom of Honda’s lineup. It’s economical, reliable, well built, and flexible. What more could anyone want? Probably a little more performance (without sacrificing fuel economy) and a little more comfort. That’s it.
07/17, 9:40 AM
posted by:
RicardoHead
77k units in about one year, and yet Mazda is wobbly about bring the USA the Mazda 2 (which other than a Fiat 500 is the only car in this segment I would consider). People love to bitch that Americans only buy ****, but when **** is all that’s for sale here then what are we supposed to do?
07/17, 10:28 AM
posted by:
LP640
the Jazz is a pretty good car but the Modus is better
07/17, 10:37 AM
posted by:
Htay5500
I wish they offer alloy rims for the USDM on non-sport trims.
07/17, 11:11 AM
posted by:
Mitch Bangowitz
Has Honda put the height adjustment for the Driver’s seat back in?
Supposely they took it out for the North American market… cause they thought no one would notice and they could shave a few $ off each car.
07/17, 12:26 PM
posted by:
global_lightning
Honda did cut some corners for the North America. Other markets get rear disk brakes, a CVT+7 ‘pseudomanual’, and AWD. This is somewhat puzzling as:
1. Honda initially planned to sell only 50K Fits per year, so supply would be limited but the profits from the excluded options would have been higher.
2. By the time the car was released here, the processing capability should have already been payed off and thus the cost would have been minimal.
Could this be a rare marketing error from Honda??? Maybe they didn’t want it to compete against the Civic DX/LX?
Htay5500:
The alloys are a dealer option. You can get the HFP 16″ for $836 or negotiate for the stock Sport 15″ wheels for ~$500.
07/17, 12:47 PM
posted by:
jamaicandude
The North American market is a very fickle one. Americans have never really been big on CVTs and I suppose dropping the rear disc brakes and a few other options was to lower the price and hopefully wrestle more buyers away from Toyota’s Scion brand.. I’m sure if it was brought to the NA market unchanged it would have been branded as a bit too expensive. That said, the fit is a way more entertaining drive than an the Scion xA & xB. It looks better too, especially in Sport guise.
07/17, 12:59 PM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
Having been a honda owner and never a renault owner, I’d obviously prefer the Modus.
Anybody remember the honda beat?
07/17, 1:11 PM
posted by:
A4
i think LP640 just wanted to sound cool and say modus
07/17, 1:17 PM
posted by:
Htay5500
was the beat a mini-miata?
the wheels in other markets look better than the sports. they also have those niche LED tailites in those markets as well. I would consider one w/ those features I said as well as AWD. tht would be a nice pkg.
07/17, 1:26 PM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
beat was a little 656-cc kei car.
more of a mini-mg than a mini miata.
not powerful, but unbelievable in terms of suel sipping
07/17, 2:16 PM
posted by:
Syrax
beat? yeah, spent less in fuel with the beat than with a bike
07/17, 4:49 PM
posted by:
LP640
i think A4 is a retard
07/17, 4:49 PM
posted by:
LP640
A4 i doubt you’ve ever even seen a Modus let alone even heard of one dumbass
07/17, 7:15 PM
posted by:
global_lightning
From what I can gather from the Source of all Wisdom (Wikipedia…):
Renault Modus = Nissan Micra, which are Kei cars. Honda’s Kei car is the Life. These are one size smaller than the Honda Fit or Nissan Versa. None of these have ever been offered in the US market.
Perhaps if Mercedes Benz has any luck with the Smart, then we could see these over here.
07/17, 7:46 PM
posted by:
LamborghiniZ
The Fit is a solid, good car. I do wish Mazda would bring the new 2 over as well
07/17, 10:24 PM
posted by:
autonutt
LamboZ.. completely agreed. Why is Mazda being so iffy about the 2 for the US market? It seems to be a perfect fit (no pun intended) to the current lineup, looks fresh compared to the other compacts in its class, and its arrival would be timed just right to beat the wave of high-MPG hybrids/diesels/etc. soon to hit the US market. I would be very disappointed if they defer to Ford (as is anticipated) and allow them to bring a decontented, styleless reskin of the 2 to the US instead.
07/17, 10:26 PM
posted by:
autonutt
Even worse.. if Ford does get exclusive rights to the 2 in the US, rumor has it they will name it “Escort”!
07/17, 10:38 PM
posted by:
global_lightning
Ugh, Escort. Another shining example of Ford putting out an excellent design, only to let it shamefully die of neglect. Isn’t the US supposed to get the new European Focus when it’s updated? Bring the Focus and the Mazda2, just in time to compete against the next Honda Fit. And while we’re at it, bring the Fiat 500… Small cars rock!
07/18, 11:33 AM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
autonutt: Forb bringing back the escort name is a worse idea that chrysler bringing back the volare or cordoba name
07/21, 10:16 AM
posted by:
BLISS
SALES ARE SOLID…..THEY ARE ECONOMICAL AND RELIABLE.