Honda Says No Fullsize Pickup, Shortage of Fits
08-15-2006, 06:12 PM
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Honda Says No Fullsize Pickup, Shortage of Fits
John Mendel, VP of Honda of America, says Honda will stay out of the full-size pickup market.
US Sales of the Honda Fit have been good. So good, in fact, that supply is severely low. Mendel suggested the possiblity of importing Fits produced in China. This would be a first for the US market, but Honda already exports Chinese-made Fits to Brazil, Russia, India, and Australia. They also export the Fit and other models to Europe. Honda doesn't think quality will be a problem, since they employ the same strict quality standards in their Chinese facilities as they do throughout the rest of their global operations.
http://wardsauto.com/ar/honda_pickup_fit/
US Sales of the Honda Fit have been good. So good, in fact, that supply is severely low. Mendel suggested the possiblity of importing Fits produced in China. This would be a first for the US market, but Honda already exports Chinese-made Fits to Brazil, Russia, India, and Australia. They also export the Fit and other models to Europe. Honda doesn't think quality will be a problem, since they employ the same strict quality standards in their Chinese facilities as they do throughout the rest of their global operations.
http://wardsauto.com/ar/honda_pickup_fit/
No Plans for Honda Fullsize Pickup; Not Enough Fits Available
By Christie Schweinsberg
WardsAuto.com, Aug 7, 2006 11:00 AM
FARMINGTON, PA – As Japanese competitor Toyota Motor Corp. prepares to launch the Tundra, possibly its most credible entry to date in the U.S. fullsize pickup segment, an American Honda Motor Co. Inc. official says his company has no plans to counter it.
"Why?" asks John Mendel, senior vice president-automotive operations for American Honda.
Mendel says he doesn't see Honda building body-on-frame, fullsize pickups any time soon because it goes against the auto maker's strategy to market fuel-efficient vehicles. Plus conventional fullsize pickups are the domain of Detroit-based General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and the Chrysler Group.
"Toyota's been on that path," the former Ford executive says during a recent Acura media event. "We're fine with Ridgeline," Honda's compact unibody truck that went on sale last year and has been selling well.
Doing even better in the wake of high fuel prices is Honda's Fit subcompact hatchback. Since hitting the U.S. market in late April, the auto maker has sold 15,922 units in the U.S., according to Ward's data. Honda says it could sell more but is seriously capacity-constrained due to global demand.
Mendel says it's possible American Honda could import the Fit (also known as the Jazz in some markets) from China, where it is being built at the expanded Honda Automobile China Co. Ltd. export-only plant. But that is not in the auto maker's current plan.
The Fit/Jazz models built in China currently are exported to countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and Australia. Last year, Honda in China began shipping models to Europe. Export Fit/Jazz cars built in Japan are targeted for Asia and the U.S.
Mendel says the universally high price of gas and the fact the Fit/Jazz is sold in so many other countries makes it difficult to get extra units for North America. "The small-car segment is huge in Europe, China and Japan, so we're kind of a distant cousin."
However, if at some point China were able to supply the U.S. with the Fit, Mendel does not believe quality would be an issue, noting the cars are well made. Plus, consumers are not as critical about products made in China as they once were.
"We're probably more of a global society now than we give ourselves credit for," he says. "I don't often pick things up and turn them over anymore and go, 'China?'"
By Christie Schweinsberg
WardsAuto.com, Aug 7, 2006 11:00 AM
FARMINGTON, PA – As Japanese competitor Toyota Motor Corp. prepares to launch the Tundra, possibly its most credible entry to date in the U.S. fullsize pickup segment, an American Honda Motor Co. Inc. official says his company has no plans to counter it.
"Why?" asks John Mendel, senior vice president-automotive operations for American Honda.
Mendel says he doesn't see Honda building body-on-frame, fullsize pickups any time soon because it goes against the auto maker's strategy to market fuel-efficient vehicles. Plus conventional fullsize pickups are the domain of Detroit-based General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and the Chrysler Group.
"Toyota's been on that path," the former Ford executive says during a recent Acura media event. "We're fine with Ridgeline," Honda's compact unibody truck that went on sale last year and has been selling well.
Doing even better in the wake of high fuel prices is Honda's Fit subcompact hatchback. Since hitting the U.S. market in late April, the auto maker has sold 15,922 units in the U.S., according to Ward's data. Honda says it could sell more but is seriously capacity-constrained due to global demand.
Mendel says it's possible American Honda could import the Fit (also known as the Jazz in some markets) from China, where it is being built at the expanded Honda Automobile China Co. Ltd. export-only plant. But that is not in the auto maker's current plan.
The Fit/Jazz models built in China currently are exported to countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and Australia. Last year, Honda in China began shipping models to Europe. Export Fit/Jazz cars built in Japan are targeted for Asia and the U.S.
Mendel says the universally high price of gas and the fact the Fit/Jazz is sold in so many other countries makes it difficult to get extra units for North America. "The small-car segment is huge in Europe, China and Japan, so we're kind of a distant cousin."
However, if at some point China were able to supply the U.S. with the Fit, Mendel does not believe quality would be an issue, noting the cars are well made. Plus, consumers are not as critical about products made in China as they once were.
"We're probably more of a global society now than we give ourselves credit for," he says. "I don't often pick things up and turn them over anymore and go, 'China?'"
08-15-2006, 06:59 PM
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Well this is kind of off subject but it does deal with the term "full size"......... I'd like to know if Honda ever plans on entering into the full size sedan market so that they would be able to compete with the Toyota Avalon. I'd love to see how Honda's majic would be incorportated into a full size sedan. Just a thought.:naughty:
08-15-2006, 09:28 PM
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go for it. when i was in the market, it came down to either the xterra s 4x4 or the wrx wagon and the xterra was crazy nice. i loved the engine, i loved the interior. if it weren't for the gas mileage and the near impossibility (at the time) of finding the 4x4 s trim with manual tranny, i would have gone for the xterra.
sometimes, you just need a real truck.
sometimes, you just need a real truck.
08-16-2006, 06:59 AM
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Alas, I don't think the shortage of the Honda Fit will be corrected until the new Greensburg, Indiana assembly comes online about 18-24 months from now. The Greensburg assembly will likely be one of the first to assemble the next-generation Fit, though, capable of building probably 150,000-175,000 Fits per year to supply the entire North American market.
08-16-2006, 08:30 AM
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Alas, I don't think the shortage of the Honda Fit will be corrected until the new Greensburg, Indiana assembly comes online about 18-24 months from now. The Greensburg assembly will likely be one of the first to assemble the next-generation Fit, though, capable of building probably 150,000-175,000 Fits per year to supply the entire North American market.
08-16-2006, 01:30 PM
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if they're looking to fix the supply problem, they need a solution within six months or so. while the car is still fresh and hot, and demand is soaring, they need to move immediately and take advantage of it. 18-24 months is way too long to wait, because the demand will have subsided by then.
small cars have always had a tendancy to fetch less profit, right now they are making more money with a shortage than they would be if they produced more fits.
once the demand dries out they will start bringing in more, because they will have to, but for the forseeable future that isn't going to happen as the fit has basically destroyed the competition in every single compro out there
08-16-2006, 02:26 PM
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Honda says it could sell more but is seriously capacity-constrained due to global demand.
08-18-2006, 07:12 AM
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if they're looking to fix the supply problem, they need a solution within six months or so. while the car is still fresh and hot, and demand is soaring, they need to move immediately and take advantage of it. 18-24 months is way too long to wait, because the demand will have subsided by then.