- Honda plans to build a second factory in Mexico and expects to assemble the next-generation Fit subcompact there in 2014.
- The new plant will have an annual capacity of 100,000 cars.
- The Mexican-built Fit will mainly target the U.S. market.
MEXICO CITY — Japanese media confirmed what had been a loud rumor in Mexico: Honda will build a second assembly plant here. The new plant, due to open in 2014, will assemble the next-generation Honda Fit, most likely at a location close to the company's current plant in the state of Jalisco, where Honda now produces the CR-V.
According to Japan's Nikkei newspaper, Honda will invest $260 million in the new plant, which will mainly supply its production to the U.S. market. Annual capacity will be 100,000 units, some of which will likely be sold in Mexico and other Latin American markets.
The current Fit is imported from Japan. Honda sells about 60,000 Fits a year in the U.S.
The devastating tsunami that hit Japan earlier this year reportedly delayed plans for the new Mexican plant. But the project apparently was strong enough to proceed, in light of the projected savings to the company by producing in a country with open access to the U.S. market.
Inside Line says: Other appealing factors were Honda's highly skilled workforce in Mexico, the relatively low wages and a strong currency (peso), which is highly linked to the U.S. dollar performance.
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pozac says:
01:11 AM, 08/13/2011
I have had several new Hondas. The Fit Sport that I had I drove on the floor everywhere that I could ...at least till i got to cruising speed...which was pretty quick if you used the hand shifters to hold the gears. Car held up great and ran better than I ever expected. The car actually had 109 horsepower and for the wight of the car was very sufficient to move it quickly along.
I am driving a Honda Civic SI right now and there is really no comparison. I can easily eek the tires through the first 4 gears of the 6 speed tranny. (Top speed over 145 but I have not took it there.) I drive all cars I have ever owned hard.
Some of the most fun cars I have drove were Subaru XT's on the autobahn in Germany...could easily cruise at 125MPH all day...it was really a low slung car. There was one Audi that tried to pass me 3 times and could not get around after he fell out of my draft...yes they drive like that all over Europe wherever the Autobahn goes.
The big BMW's will blow by at over 150 MPH but what is really funny is to have a new GM (OPEL) Senator that has 300 KPH on the speedo and will run every bit of it and more.
160 KPH equals 100 MPH...240 KPH =150MPH...60 KPH=37.5 MPH add those 3 together and that new Senator wagon would run 187.5 MPH PLUS and that friends is from a 6 cylinder.
It was pretty funny to watch a Opel Senator Station Wagon run off and leave an American Corvette on the Autobahn. One of our reps had one and his company (HUGHES) would let him pick out a new car every so often according to his contract.
If you want to learn to drive with fast traffic then go to Germany!
I had a ticket within a week after i got back to the states...I was thankful he did not take me jail!
I had an older Senator with an inline 6 and a4 barrel water cooled carb that ran like American v8's
Why we had not had those engines in OUR GM products I will never know...all had more torque and better mileage on the highway than any American v8's. This was late 70's thru late 80's models i am referring to.
As far as Mexico putting together something that I may want will probably not happen in my lifetime...especially as far as cars are concerned. We know they can put a VW BUG together, BUT I would not buy one of those either by choice. I will buy Jose Cuervo though!
kosmo69 says:
12:03 PM, 08/03/2011
Fit made in Mexico- sounds like a oxymoron
davicho says:
11:18 AM, 08/03/2011
To all you "Mexico-built" haters....you are completely missing the point. Just because vehicles are made built in Mexico doesnt make them bad or worse. A plant no matter where it is located still need to follow the manufacturers rules, regulations and levels of quality. The machinery used is the exact same one used in any other plant in the world. The only diffence is the cost to build them because of lower levels of wages that are needed to pay the workers, not nessesarily implying that workers in Mexico will get paid little money and thus provide a shitty performance. It just means that the average wage in Mexico is heck of a lot lower then in say Japan or even the U.S. So to the Mexican worker he/she can be getting paid a fairly good wage.
northsparrow says:
10:41 AM, 08/03/2011
To be clear, I don't have a grudge against the people of Mexico and my comments were not intended to encourage xenophobic remarks. I am just sick of seeing more and more car production moved to low wage jurisdictions.
Since NAFTA came into effect has the standard of living for Mexican factory workers actually risen to meet our level or is our level hurtling downwards to meet theirs?
k55 says:
10:12 AM, 08/03/2011
Interesting.........but will it offer the "bale of marijuana" option that has proven so popular at the border? If so this will be a great car to smuggle in drugs and people since it has so many seating options. What did Consumer Reports rate it in regards to the smuggling catagory ? No matter , I want mine with contrasting windshield tassles, premium dashboard religion package, and the extra cost mariachi stereo with 1 channel/1 speaker.
hammy35 says:
07:48 AM, 08/03/2011
@ compressor
I owned an '08 Fit that I bought new. Agreed that the mpgs are better than advertised; I don't think I ever got lower than 30-31. I never did better than 36. With the AC blasting (which is woefully inadeqaute in those cars) average hwy was 34 ish. I had a rental Elantra (the new one) which did 39 on the hwy while being driven like a rental - and to boot, the interior quality was better.
Honestly, I wasn't that impressed with my Fit. Drove great. The bikes fit. Cheap to own. Fit and finish was meh for a Japan built car, but it's downfall is the powertrain. The sohc 1.5 needs to go. It makes what, 36 hp? And only gets 36 mpg on the highway? It also needs another overdrive gear. 4k on the highway was not uncommon. I would buy another if Honda gets their **** together.
wikiwiki says:
07:16 AM, 08/03/2011
I'd rather have my cars come off a ship from Japan or from a factory in America. This does not sound good. We shall see. Building cars in Mexico sure has not upped the quality of cars coming from VW.
sdiego says:
06:31 AM, 08/03/2011
Ahh...Finally, another car imported from the border...
juan_mx says:
05:41 AM, 08/03/2011
@jm1212
Look at the mpg numbers in the IL long-term road tests. You can see that the Fit is very competitive in terms of fuel economy, the best mileage of the Fit was 39mpg while the Mazda 2 is currently at 38.1. Only the Fiat 500 (smaller engine) beats it at 42.4 in the july 2011 report (previously it was 38.5)
I have read some forums where they report 43-45mpg hwy consistently for the Fit.
And just in case you are wondering, I don't like Hondas.
compressor says:
08:19 PM, 08/02/2011
jm1212,
The fuel economy figures of all the cars listed are within about 5 mpg of each other on the highway. Real world mixed driving mileage will largely be the same across all competitors in this class. The Fit has yet to be matched in its combination of great chassis tuning and extremely roomy/versatile layout.
Though 2014 may be too far out, the car is still very competitive. If anything, Honda would be smart to provide a mild styling refresh to give people the feel that this is a new car. HyunKia, Ford, Nissan, Chevy competitors seem only to have an advantage of being "new", not necessarily better.
Long story short, the Fit is still competitive if people would look past a few sticker mpg and actually test drive the thing. Making a decision on a car because of a couple mpg difference is not smart, but obviously people will do this.