The culling of smaller passenger cars continues. Today Honda announced that the Fit is no longer fit for the US. And that goes for the Civic coupe and the manual transmission Accord. They join a growing list of other small passenger cars slated to be dropped in the US market. Meanwhile, the Big Three are struggling with a lack of inventory of pickups. In order to pick up the corpses.
The writing on the Fit was already on the wall when the US didn’t get the latest generation, called the Jazz (above) elsewhere. It’s strictly a hybrid too now, which is where the action is in Europe and Asia. The Fit-based HR-V will be Honda’s entry level car CUV.
The Civic Coupe, which was NA-specific anyway (IIRC), is also driving off into the sunset, leaving the hatchback. That makes the Civic and Accord Honda’s only two passenger cars, just like it always was, ever since 1976. But the Accord loses its stick shift, as less than 2% were still being made with that obsolete appliance. In fact, none have been built since last fall; there’s enough in inventory to last another decade or two.
And in case you didn’t hear, the Yaris is also joining the Fit and Chevy Sonic in subcompact heaven, and the Hyundai Accent is likewise going somewhere else too. Small cars just aren’t cutting it, although oddly the Chevy Spark still has a bit of spark left…for now.
And the Mitsubishi Mirage will stand alone, because it has the lowest base price and people buy cars by the pound. I hadn’t heard about the Accent, for that matter. It’s a shame they didn’t put in that variable gas tax with $3/gal price floor some think-tankers were suggesting circa 2008-10.
I’m glad I scored my manual Fit in February, then. I only wish I had pounced earlier since the EX with the nice factory sunroof was made CVT-only and colors on the manual LX restricted to silver or gray only for MY2020.
This is why I get annoyed at people. Too bad they didn’t put in a gas tax to make people have to pay at least $3 a gallon, because you would like people to be financially coerced to buy the sorts of cars you like? How about if I pushed for a tax on people who don’t drive much that would be used to subsidize the price of gas so it cost .25 cents a gallon because I prefer 20 foot long cars with big blocks and that would make it more financially likely to happen? Would you like that? I hate government social engineering.
+1
I mean, your liking cars as big as a whale is kind of destroying the planet. You say choice, I say staggeringly selfish, to the point of harming other people. Which is how a lot of the world sees a lot of Americans these days.
Human overpopulation is destroying the planet far more than little old me driving around a long V8 car, and America isn’t the biggest contributor to that problem no one likes to acknowledge.
I mean, until humans burp out methane like cows, overpopulation itself is less of a problem than what humans actually do.
Americans have among the highest per capita emissions in the world – certainly of the really big nations. Your way of life is built around unsustainable stuff, but I see you’d rather revel in your own gluttony and point the finger at everyone else for daring to want what you have.
I get it – I’d love a V8 too. I just think putting your own greedy pleasure ahead of other people’s survival is totally immoral is all 😉
I’m going to have to ask you to end this dead-end AGW comment thread. AGW debates never end well, and nobody’s going to change their mind anyway. Thanks.
What does AGW mean?
if you enter “AGW” into a Google search, here’s the answer you’ll get:
Anthropogenic Global Warming, overall warming of Earth’s climate caused or produced by humans.
Shush! Pipe down, willya? Who cares about the planet? They got 55-gallon Hyper BigQuaff barrels o’ Pepsi on sale at Wal*Mart, and Who Wants to Dance With America’s Next Top Millionaire Survivor Star Top Chef is on.
It was ok for rich European jet setters to fly across the world in the Concorde, but an American with a v8 engine is going to end the world
Give me as brake
I’m not taking sides here but they did stop operating the Concorde 17 years ago and it’s not like there was a ban on non-Europeans buying tickets or flying on it either. On the other hand, all that automotive diesel pollution is turning out not to be so good either.
Paul is correct though, drop the thread please, there are clearly no positive takeaways here.
No, large vehicles are not “destroying the planet”, and forcing people into hybrids and electrics would not “save” it even if it needed saving. Control freaks and busybodies that want to force people to live a particular way are much more dangerous that people’s personal transportation choices.
Taxes, gas taxes included, are re-invested in society, you know. Like in infrastructure (which is way more than roads and bridges alone), healthcare, education and public facilities. Things that many may consider as trivialities.
The only legitimate use of gasoline taxes is to fund road building and maintenance.
Well, if that’s the case, I’ve got no complaints whatsoever about the overall quality of the main roads, bridges, viaducts, dike roads (not to mention the dikes themselves) and backroads.
Don’t handwave away transportation infrastructure and all the socialized costs of my freedom to drive.
Gas taxes and auto property taxes aren’t keeping up with any of these, or road costs.
I drive a lot more than some of my USA relatives and in this country it costs me a pittance more. This nearly-free ride isn’t going to last forever.
Exactly so. When I was a selfish, ignorant kid I went around brassily declaring my right to burn up as much oil as I wanted, however I wanted. I mocked and scorned those who pointed out that the price and the cost of gasoline weren’t the same thing. I called taxation theft.
Then I grew up.
When politicians use taxes as their personal piggy banks and divert revenue to their cronies special interests, or as they cutely call them “diversions”, it is, literally, theft. Pardon those of us who are skeptical of handing out more to an opaque and demonstrably corrupt system.
“Obsolete appliance?” Them’s fighting words.
Agree! A manual transmission makes the drive that much more fun. You really get the feel of driving, especially if your car has the right suspension set up.
However, I get why people feel it is obsolete since they are letting the car do all the work in their vehicle. Many of my friends are surprised that at my age I still drive a Mustang with a stick shift. I will keep doing that as long as I can crawl behind the wheel.
I prefer a car that gives me feedback but lets me make the decisions.
Maybe I’m ” obsolete” too. I still own the same ’79 Malibu with a four speed that I’ve had for 41 years.
I can much more easily forgive myself for being in the wrong gear than forgive the car.
Real Men drive sticks!!!
I converted an automatic car to a manual car, I think I grew extra chest hair
My genitalia grow an extra inch when I drive a stick shift.
Right there with you, Rick. I’m age 62 and still driving my ’98 Accord LX with 5-speed stick. I bought it brand-new off the dealer’s lot in December 1997. I still love driving it every day and have no plans to replace it.
When I drive an automatic it feels strange, as if something is missing or I forgot to do something.
Proud to be “obsolete!”
I dread the day this is said about steering wheels and pedals.
The Honda Insight is still available in addition to the Civic and Accord
My impression years living here American in general never likes small vehicles. People always view small vehicle as low end and unsafe, so we are seeing the vehicle size getting bigger and bigger over years since 1980s. Just look at the sales charts in the last two decades, full size pickups are among the most popular vehicles. Even the original compact Honda Accord is now quite a large vehicle, GM and Ford just get rid of thier full size sedan with full size SUVs. And now all the arguments about lower or zero emissions are concentrated of stopping gasoline consumption without one word on resource reductions (smaller size and less consumption). Is it small and efficient vehicle is a quicker and more achievable solution than replacing gasoline with electricity to power? If do not agree this approach, keep investing Tesla stock and enjoy your ride.
Regarding really small vehicles (as in A-segment/city car small), this here is generally considered as the best small car that money can buy these days. The current generation of the Hyundai i10, introduced last year.
It could be interesting to know if the Yaris will continue to be sold in Canada just like the Micra?
And speaking of Canada, the Grand Caravan nameplate continue to live in the Great White North.
https://www.autobison.com/2020/07/we-saw-this-coming-voyager-renamed-grand-caravan/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/fca-automotive-news-greg-layson-windsor-chrysler-grand-caravan-minivans-1.5652860
Curiously it’s a Chrysler Grand Caravan rather than a Dodge, continuing a Canadian tradition of rebadging cars sold as Dodges in the U.S. as Chryslers (see also Dynasty, Intrepid, etc.)
believe it or not, the current Accord is not as long as the prior two iterations – but looks longer
I believe it is also roomier, as the current Accord has a larger EPA interior than some “full” size cars, like the Impala. I think the Accord is now considered full size by the EPA w/ 105.6 cu ft int space.
It is a pity, only because lower-income Americans are being left with virtually no options for an affordable brand-new car. You now have the Mirage, Versa, Rio, and Spark, and who knows how much longer those will be kept around? You have the sub-compact CUVs, but those are more expensive and less fun to drive (and not even any more roomy) than their sedan and hatchback counterparts. I get it that these cars are less profitable than a fluffy luxo-truck that will never see so much as a dirt road. And I get that the market trends are what they are. But it is sad to me that if I ever move back to the US, there probably won’t be any options for a small, fun to drive car.
Doesn’t matter anyway. Soon we will all just be hailing self-driving Ubers. The technocrats have won and the joy of driving is dead…. Just kidding I don’t really think that, but it’s hard to not be cynical sometimes!
I wonder how organized, national used car places like Carvana, Car Max, et al, are impacting the continued production of these bottom-feeder small cars.
I think we’re in an era like the 1970s where production efficiency encourages car designers and engineers to share drivelines and various hardpoints across segments, and the result is profitable trends(then PLCs, now CUVs) have the net effect of compromising what they were derived off of in the first place, and making anything not part of that sharing stand out as an unprofitable burden to the automakers.
There’s also the problem with the used market, right now if want a cheap fun small car and you have the choice between a lightly used Focus ST or a brand new base Civic coupe that costs thousands more, it’s kind of an easy decision, especially if you’re young. What sucks is eventually this segment of will car get supplanted from the used marketplace too by used crossovers.
Lack of V6 == a shorter (in the longitudinal sense) engine compartment. The 4-cylinder version of prior Accords have plenty of space around the engine.
I hadn’t heard about the Hyundai Accent either; I did see the news the other day about the Fit, Civic coupe, and Accord with manual transmission. If the Accent goes, wouldn’t the Kia Rio’s days also be numbered?
About the Grand Caravan, I understand it will be the low-trim variant of the Chrysler Pacifica in Canada, just as the Voyager is the low-trim variant in the US.
With all this culling, it appears the A- and B-segment (mini and subcompact) cars are fading from a US presence.
It’s funny how fast American consumer change from sedan to wagon/hatchback to SUV then to CUV just in 60 years period of time. While the old world aka Europe still sell sedan, wagons, hatchbacks but they still sell old SUV, minibus, MPV, small pickups and newer cars like CUV. In the end Americans getting less and less choices because everyone just wanted the same thing. Either Xtra big trucks or SUV or CUV. Look like American consumer have that sheep mentally. If everyone hoarding toilet paper then the rest would do the same.
Most of the explanations for the preference of Americans for big, tall vehicles are psychological in nature.
That rather applies to all human activity, eh?
There are similar trends in some other markets. GDP per capita and relatively low fuel prices may be enablers of certain psychological needs.
Far fewer manual-transmission Accords were made per year in the last few years than Ferraris. They may look common outside, but they are very rare cars.
The Civic coupe was the last 2-door passenger car in the US market with fully framed doors.
Will the Kia Rio still be around even if the Accent is going away?
I’ll be driving a 2nd gen M/T Fit for quite a while longer. Among friends and family, the only M/T vehicles are all small 4×4’s, 2-door Wranglers and a Samurai.
The Nissan Versa at $14xxx is still around, albeit only in sedan form but in current form it’s a huge improvement over the preceding one. And Canada even has the Micra, right?
Nissan’s also doubled down offering the FWD only Kicks ($18xxx) and Hyundai, after making the Accent sedan-only, now has the Venue ($17xxx), also FWD only, but basically a small cube proto-CUV but not really…still, it’s a compelling package.
If there’s only so many spots on a dealer’s lot and spot A will bring in no profit and spot B will bring in more money for both dealer and manufacturer, then it makes sense. The businesses don’t exist to provide a bargain to the public, they exist to turn a profit and most if not all of them still do have an entry-level offering instead of multiples even if entry level just got 10-15% more expensive. Chevy got rid of their second cheapest offering and still has the cheapest, the Spark, as noted.
Clearly there are a lot of people that would rather buy a slightly used Civic or Sonata or Forte or Altima than spend the same amount of money for a brand new Fit or Accent or Sonic etc, not least among them some people here that would counsel others that the slightly used “bigger” car is a better value. And that may well even be true depending on the actual use case. The only people that really should be lamenting these losses in the market are those that actually purchased this segment new and would perhaps like to do so again.
^This. It’s just business, and the profit margin on small cars is pretty slim. Manufacturers have to sell more of them to make the same money on fewer, larger vehicles. So, when the volume isn’t there, it’s no surprise small models get discontinued.
With the bankruptcy of Hertz and the general decline of rental car business, there is a huge surplus of barely used Versa sedans priced below US$9k.
Two and three year old last gen Versas with 40,000 miles on them are hardly ‘barely used’. Considering how rentals are driven and the fragility of Nissan’s JATCO CVT, I’d consider them a ticking bomb.
Personally, I am saddened by the news. Looks like my 2016 Civic may become a Curbside Classic before my 2007 Mustang does….
I like the engaging to drive, fun small cars. So among the cars I own are an ‘81 X1/9 and a 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth. Good times!
I’m in the camp of those who prefer a manual transmission, and lament the ongoing demise of choices. However, I also understand market forces and the decision of OEMs to drop manuals as an option, when nobody wants to buy them. What I don’t understand is why there cannot be a true “world car” selection, as many countries still have a fairly high take rate for manuals – Mexico for example. I know, it’s all about “certifying” home vehicles for home markets. I cannot believe that there cannot be a set of certs written and accepted by every country, perhaps with the lone exception of RH/LH drive. I mean, when you’re behind the wheel of “XX” rental car in another country, it still goes down the road the same. Why can’t every car manufactured be a choice for every consumer, regardless of where you live?
The problem isn’t technical, it’s political and economic. Fact is, it’s already possible under existing regulations to come very close to a car legally suitable for all regions. Mostly the automakers choose not to do so. They have numerous strong incentives to keep tight control over what cars stay in (and out of) what markets. Yes, they could save money by paring down the market differences to LH- versus RH-traffic, but it would severely complicate (and drive up the cost of) their liability situation, warranty obligations, parts distribution, and other things. It would also undermine their pricing vehicles according to what they feel any given market will bear, thus reducing corporate and dealer profit. So those are some of the economic factors.
Politically, tariffs and local-content laws are held in dim regard by most of the civilised world, so trade barriers are instead shaped like technical regulations. Neither industry nor governments would be interested in giving up those levers any time soon.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of reasons why we don’t have what you describe, but it’s a start.
Given the lack-of-sales figures, it strikes me all or most of the people gnashing their teeth and rending their garments here don’t actually want to buy one of these cars, they just want them to be…available.
Kind of like not caring what’s on TV so much as what else is on TV.
I would guess some of the reasons of what sells has to do with what your parents drove. Station wagons, not going to drive that, then the mini-van, not gonna drive that. It’s going to be interesting to see where this market goes next. The last decent sedan I had was a 2010 Fusion Sport. Loved that car. It’s replacement SuperCrew F150 4×4. Oddly enough IF I behave myself the F150 delivers pretty decent fuel mileage, carry 5 adults with out a torturous back seat. AND I can pick up all the parts, tires, rims, etc the Mustang needs, all the 2x4s and plywood the house needs and hook up to the 30′ travel trailer and head south for 8-10 weeks to avoid the worst of a Minnesota winter.
I have always loved small 2dr manual transmission coupes. I had three Honda Preludes and now have a Civic Si coupe. There is nothing left for me to buy next.
They still make the Hyundai Accent. Just bought a 2022 SE. With the used car market being what it is, I vowed to find a new car under $20K instead and succeeded.