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The Cobo Consensus on Toyota’s recently-released Prius V seemed to be a nearly-unanimous “nice, but couldn’t they have done more?” Unused to the Japanese and European-market practices of building a number of slightly-varying models on compact and subcompact platforms, the American press seems to agree that 60 percent more luggage space does not a new model justify. Which may be why word of this similarly-expanded Honda Fit “wagon” has yet to break into the stateside autoblogosphere. Or, it may be the fact that Autoexpress isn’t necessarily the most reputable source of leaked images. Either way, Honda’s B-segment MPV is an intriguing entry… if only as a Euro-market curiosity.
23 Comments on “Is Honda Hatching A Plus-Sized Fit?...”
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It’s getting harder and harder to tell when a car is not a Prius just by looking at it.
If it looks like that they shouldn’t bother (although I know that there will be some people who will buy anything.)
There’s a 1st gen Fit wagon called the Airwave which also has an odd C-pillar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Airwave
There’s also the three-row, Fit-based Freed MPV. Which I desperately want.
The other day I saw a tuner Fit on the street — black on black, and it looked terrific. I imagine there’s a lot that can be done with the basic Fit concept – including a stretch version – as long as Honda doesn’t overtax the little hamster running under the hood.
Can’t say I care much for the back end of this particular attempt at a wagon, though. I fear it’s a styling cliche that is creeping into the Honda lineup. Hopefully the company won’t need an Acura-scale debacle before they figure out it’s awful.
Couldn’t they just do a Civic wagon instead? At least for the US. SI please :)
The only thing that prevented me from buying a FIT 2 years ago was the lack of cargo space behind the rear seats.
The only other wagon like vehicle offered by Honda at the time was the CRV which was not available with a stick, was too SUV like for my tastes, and didn’t get the kind of MPG I was looking for. Although it was pretty good on comfort and space.
If Honda were to sell something like this in the US (preferably with the current 1.5 & manual tranny), I’d trade in my current ride and buy it.
well, the CR-Z has the 1.5 and a manual. Also, the Element was offered with a manual transmission.
They stopped offering a manual in the Element in 09 or ’10.
They’re stretching it in the wrong direction. It doesn’t need to be longer as much as it needs to be wider. I’d say 3-4 inches more front seat shoulder room (between the seats, the seats can stay as close to the doors as they are today). I don’t like literally rubbing shoulders with my passenger. Plus the width will let them put real arm rest(s) in the front even with the manual trans.
Fix the shoulder width, arm rests, and get rid of the buzzing at highway speeds and it’s a sale. I really really wanted to like the Fit in C4C days but I didn’t and thus didn’t buy at all at the time. Honda might have a hit on their hands if they gave the Fit the “Juke” treatment, minus the ugly stick, but jacked up/wider track and body/turbo’d and it would at least be a great addition to the current lineup.
Making it wider would probably take it out of this class entirely. A wider Fit should wear a Civic badge.
I’m trying to like it, but I’m not a fan of most wedge-shaped vehicles (with some exceptions), and unfortunately this Honda variation ‘fits’ the bill. I’ve always been drawn to the Fit and the very clever way in which it’s designed, but I just can’t get beyond that extremely wedged nose/windshield.
It looks like the illegitimate offspring of a Honda Fit and a Lexus IS300 Sportcross. The Sportcross is a fairly attractive car by itself, and the Fit’s design, as “tparkit” mentioned, has potential. Unfortunately, this “plus-sized” design doesn’t flow. It would probably look less awkward if they smoothed out the C-pillar area. The tacky wheel covers wouldn’t look good on any car.
The car is probably very versatile inside, though…
And yet I like it. Just goes to show that you can’t market one car to everyone.
Oh God no. What the hell happened to Honda? The Civic is still strong, but other than that, what have they done for me lately?
The CR-Z? A poor-mileage hybrid sport slug?
The Crosstour? A fake-4wd stiltwagon?
The Ridgeline? A fake-4wd Minivan with a bed?
The bloated Accord? My mother owns one, and it’s a frightening amount of car to wiggle around in a parking lot compared to my previous Hondas.
This thing? An answer to a question nobody asked?
All of this is that much more ironic because the Fit was the last good new design (aside from the Odyssey update) that Honda released. It was classic square-H: Tiny, quirky, somehow driveable despite an engine displacement smaller than most weed-wackers, and practical to a fault.
Honda used stay ahead by alternately being frighteningly uninnovative but Just Plain Good (Accord, Civic, Odyssey, Prelude) or producing goofball shit that was somehow compelling (Civic Si, CRX, Fit, ASIMO).
They’d better thank their lucky stars that they have their claws in everything from leaf-blowers to private jets, because they’re going to need other divisions to subsidize the automotive guys if the next 5 years go like the last 5.
Dang, you are uninformed.
much better looking than the Fit sedan. I’d like more greenhouse though.
Matrix rear end, Mitsubishi mid-section, Fit front.
I’m reminded of the late 80’s early 90’s Mitubushi Expo LRV. Not a bad vehicle actually ahead of it’s time like a Mazda 5 or the new Ford Focus based C-Max “mini van ” It’s too bad they did not improve upon it here in the states. No wonder why Mitubushi is floundering about.
That is worse looking than a Pontiac Aztec.
Fugly! Honda needs to steal some Huyndai designers. Or Kia’s. Or just close the shop and focus on what they know – jet aircraft. Ha!
LOL, I love sarcasm. STEAL and KIA go hand in hand. KIA is the KOPY KING.
I have an ’09 Fit Sport (manual) that I’m very happy with, but as for this proposed stretched version, I don’t like it. There is already a decent and reliable Japanese car that fits this bill: the Mazda 5. It’s not selling as well as Consumer Reports says it should, which means the market for the design (ie: one that closes the gap between roomy econo-box and cross-over SUV/ minivan) just isn’t there in sufficient numbers to justify going ahead with production.
Besides, as small as the current Fit is it punches way above its weight in the utility department, not to mention the handling department, the fuel economy department, the resale value department…