Last year, the all-new Honda Fit, also known as the Honda Jazz in other markets, debuted with a cleaner design and a new hybrid powertrain, which is the only engine option. In America, however, the Honda Fit didn't get a redesign for the 2020 model year, leaving the future of Honda's funky subcompact hatchback uncertain.
It turns out the writing was already on the wall, Honda has officially confirmed that the Fit will no longer be sold in the US market after the 2020 model year, meaning the HR-V crossover will become the Japanese automaker's entry-level model in America.
"Honda will conclude production of Fit for North American markets at the end of the 2020 model year," the company said in a statement. "Since Honda introduced the first generation Fit in 2006, the market has evolved. HR-V and Civic Hatchback have become the new gateway models for the Honda brand, offering significant utility, performance, and value. Today, Civic Hatchback outsells Fit almost 2-to-1, while HR-V also has experienced substantial organic growth, with a 19 percent gain in 2019."
In a statement, Honda said discontinuing the Fit will allow the automaker to focus on its core models that appeal to US buyers. "We are discontinuing one car, but for us, the real story is how committed we are to our core car products," said Gary Robinson, assistant vice president of product planning. "We're going to be very much focused on the Civic and the Accord, which effectively created the image of the Honda brand in the US."
The Fit isn't the only model Honda is killing off, either. The Honda Civic Coupe is getting the chop after the 2020 model year along with the manual version of the Honda Accord. The Accord will now be offered with either a CVT or 10-speed automatic depending on the engine.
"With Civic buyers, particularly younger buyers, increasingly gravitating toward Civic Hatchback, and a general decline in coupe sales across the industry, Honda will conclude production of Civic Coupe at the end of the 2020 model year. In its place, Civic Hatchback will assume the position of the sporty and personal choice in the Civic lineup."
Demand for two-door coupes and manual transmissions in the US has dropped significantly, so it isn't surprising that the Civic Coupe and manual version of the Accord are being discontinued. The Coupe version only makes up six percent of Honda's total US Civic sales so it's been living on borrowed time. This news means the sportier Civic Si Coupe will leave the market but the Si sedan remains safe for now. As for the Accord, "manual transmissions represented only 1-2 percent of total sales over the past several years, reflecting customers' increased preference for automatic transmission models," the company said.
"Manual transmissions will remain an important part of the Honda lineup, currently available in Civic Sedan, Hatchback, Si, and Type R. Enthusiast consumers have long reaped the rewards of this commitment and those buyers helped make Honda the retail No. 1 manual transmission brand in America in 2019."