The Honda Fit, Civic Coupe, and manual transmission variant of the Honda Accord will soon be gone from the company’s American lineup. Automotive News first reported the information.
Honda will bid adieu to the Fit after the 2020 model year. When the model was introduced in 2006, customers were still opting for small cars and the Fit served as a flexible entry point for buyers who wanted a fuel-efficient daily driver that didn’t look like the typical sedan. Now, that business case has changed with customers preferring SUVs, buying the Honda HR-V and CR-V as their entry points into the brand instead.
Popularity of the coupe has dwindled in recent years.
Photo courtesy of American Honda Motor Mfg. Inc.
The Honda Civic Coupe is also a victim of changing consumer preferences. It too will be gone after the 2020 model year. The Civic hatchback has accounted for 24 percent of Civic sales 2016. During the same period Civic Coupe sales fell from 16 percent of the market to just six percent.
Production has already been shifted, and plans are underway to plan other moves regarding the Civic and Accord. Honda will pause Civic Si production at the company’s Alliston, Ontario plant later this year as it transitions to the 11th-generation Civic Si Sedan. The next-gen Civic lineup will focus on the sedan, hatchback, Si, and Type R models.
The six-speed Honda Accord hasn’t been produced since December 2019. Honda says that despite the move, they’ll have enough models to last them through the year.
Honda isn’t just ditching the models as a way to clean up their lineup. They’re making room for “a whole lot of interesting in the future” according to a tweet from Matt Sloustcher, senior manager and department head of American Honda Public Relations.
