2007 Nissan Versa: Sales success?

Honda is only importing a small number of Fits each month. They are almost always sold before hitting the lot.

I'm sure Honda's plan is to be outsold nearly 2 to 1.

timith: It does make sense, monetarily, to produce fewer vehicles and make more each one. That way, Honda is maximizing the profit for the cost of materials used in building their product. Let me put it this way: Would you rather sell 20 drive through hamburgers for one dollar or 10 sit-down restaurant hamburgers for 6 dollars? You may be selling half the volume of your competitor, but you will edge them out in your profit margin and material costs.

I know my local dealer is looking at 3+ months before they see another Fit Sport with a manual.

The missing bit of information there is how many days of supply there are at the dealers. The Honda fit has the lowest days of supply (13 last month) of any car currently sold by a major manufacturer.
 
What that means is that they are not even available for test drives, so many potential buyers just find something else rather than go through the wait list hassle of getting a Fit. Since I got mine (had to go from Seattle to Philly to find an MT in stock at MSRP) I have talked to several people to read about the Fit in a magazine or something, went to a dealer to try one and then gave up on it when they didn't have one. A lot of those buyers probably went and tried Versa's or Yari(?) and ended up in one of those.
 
I don't know why Honda has such limited production of the Fit, but I can guarantee that if there were 8,837 Fit sold so far this year, that is how many Honda built for the US market. I do know however that Canada gets a much larger per-capita share of the North American Fit than the US does, because transaction prices are higher on them there so Honda is sending them where they get the most profit on them, which is NOT the US.

keep in mind that Honda makes very very little profit on the Fit, so it is possible that they're hoping some of those Fit custumers move up to the civic, which they make much more profit on.

[quote]As for the Fit, I'm wondering if the lack of a sedan body style is limiting its sales potential?[/quote]
 
What is it with Americans and sedans? I am an American, but I have never understood the preference for a sedan to a small wagon, or a small coupe to a small hatch. Really, what is the point of something like the ZX2? "Gee, I want an economy car, but lets make sure it is impractical, too." No other country in the world does this. Try to find a Jetta in Germany - the Golf just makes more sense.

Also I'd say the Versa marketing team has definitely trumped the Fit's marketing. Honda usually has the most least memorable ads out of all of the manufacturers for their vehicles and I'm sure the clever Versa ad is a much better attention grabber than Honda's 15sec of "The Fit is Go!"

When I bought my Versa two months ago, we also looked at the Fit. But we couldn't test drive one. I drove three different Versas at two different dealers. I would not buy a car, particularly a new model, before I could test drive it. While I did like the Versa better since most of my driving is on the highway, I can't help but think I'd be driving a Fit if I could've test-driven the thing. (My first test-drive of a Versa was the manual, and I hated it, so I moved on to the Fit. Later, after checking out the CVT, I was sold on the Versa.)

wow, thats how few fits are out there. I know there are some benefits to having a tight supply. But theres a differance between tight supply and virtually no supply.
 
means theres only about ~100 fits sold a day (if you can sell a fit 7 days a week, and there are roughly 90 days from jan through mar.
 
I know you dont want to flood the market, but clearly theres room to sell a few more.

Out here in LA I see ads for the Versa all the time. I can't remember seeing any for the Fit so I think that for lots of peeps it's under the radar.

it makes no sense to artificially limit the availability of a car just so that dealerships can sell them for MSRP. Honda makes the same amount whether is sells for MSRP or $400 under invoice.
 
i think it's probably a problem with production and/or lack of people buying.
 
Also, i think the other 3 cars are produced on this continent so that could be a reason why the supply is better

Could it be that Versa is a better car than Fit? More luxurious quieter and nice looking. Sure it does not have the sport character of the Fit, but both have lousy small engines! As for the practicality of the Fit, apparently many people prefer better looking interior to commute than a more versatile interior to carry couches and big boxes.
As Fit is presented like a sport minivan, with the ability to carry more staff around, Versa is seen as a small car with the ability to transport people to work or in the city smoother and more luxuriously.

To anybody who thinks the Fit is not selling well because people don't like it, just call any Honda dealer and try to buy one. Heck, just try to test drive one.
 
The thing is the Fit is a truly global car, as are all 3 of the others. The difference is that the 3 other cars in that list just had re-designs knowing they were going to the US market, the Fit has been on sale virtually unchanged in Europe and Asia since 2002. For Honda the US is just a tiny fraction of Fit sales, considering the Fit is one of the most popular Honda models worldwide. My guess is they are only importing this Fit to see if people like it so they can decide if they want to design the next Fit (going on sale this year in Japan) with the US market in mind.
 
The original annual US sales estimate for the Fit was 40,000. I believe they sold over that here last year, and the car didn't go on sale till April. My guess is that proved to Honda there was a market for the car and when the next Fit arrives the supply issues will be resolved.
 
On the advertising front my guess is that Honda stopped advertising a car that had 6 month waiting lists, why should they pay for advertising when the car is selling itself? I'm starting to see ads and stuff again, so I bet the wait lists have cooled down somewhat.
 
I don't want to sound like I'm dissing the Versa because I'm not. I haven't driven one but it sounds like a great car. I bet that is part of what is behind the Fit sales, for people who don't want to deal with a waiting list or buying a car with no test drive there are a few other GOOD alternatives, the Versa being one of them.
 
I doubt the lack of a sedan has anything to do with it. Theres no real reason to buy a Fit sedan over a Civic. The mileage is the same, the price is not that far off, and you lose most of the practicality of the Fit by going to a notchback. Although I have to say the Fit sedan is kinda cool looking (http://www.honda.co.jp/Fit-ARIA/).

the fit isnt doing well, enough with the excuses.

"Although I have to say the Fit sedan is kinda cool looking (http://www.honda.co.jp/Fit-ARIA/)."
  
Looks like a Corolla, with Acura treatment to the front end and taillights. Not so sure I'm sold on the sedan styling.
  
Honestly, since we're comparing the Fit and Versa (and Aveo, Yaris, Accent/Rio), subjectively I think the Fit has the best styling, hands down. It looks so modern and "different" to me. The recently restyled Rio comes in second... Nothing else in this segment has appealing exterior styling.

jesus, bennetpullen you sound like a Honda dealer. Relax, nobody said that Fit doesn't sell well. Just that Versa sells better right now. Perhaps that will change in the near future

When I was buying my Fit, I asked the fleet sales manager why these cars are so hard to find, ie why the supply is so slim....he told me that the car is made and imported directly from Japan and that Honda is truly kind of "testing the waters" to see if they will sell here. If they do, Honda will begin production closer to home. So what 'bennetpullen' is saying does ring true.

Honda doesn't import many Fits. The Fit Sport that sells for $16,000 here sells for about $18,000 in Canada and the equivalent of $25,000 in the UK - they only make a few hundred dollars on each fit sold in the US. And the dealers only make a few hundred dollars, so they're not exactly clamoring for more Fits.
 
I ordered my car in July and got it at the end of November. Waiting list is even longer now. They would sell more if they imported more.
 
Notice that the best selling car of that bunch is the Yaris - does anyone here claim that the Yaris is the best car of those listed?!?

The Fit isn't doing well? Are you retarded?

The reason they don't sell well is because there aren't enough copies of the car to sell. There are huge waiting lists.
 
The reason there aren't enough to go around is because they are built in Japan and must be imported. The United States still has quota agreements with the Japanese government which limit the number of cars that are not manufactured in the United States that can be sold there. This is to encourage foreign-owned companies to build plants and provide jobs here as opposed to overseas (it works too, look at how many Nissan/Toyota/Honda plants have popped up in the last five years). Currently Honda/Acura uses most of their import quota for other models, only leaving room for the ~40,000 copies of the Fit per year. It is not a matter of the Fit doing poorly, it is of Honda as a whole doing too well. Go figure.

“ is it with Americans and sedans? I am an American, but I have never understood the preference for a sedan to a small wagon, or a small coupe to a small hatch. Really, what is the point of something like the ZX2? "Gee, I want an economy car, but lets make sure it is impractical, too." No other country in the world does this. Try to find a Jetta in Germany - the Golf just makes more sense”
 
Honestly I hate hatchbacks in general and I would agree the hatred is irrational. The Versa and the Yaris are the only two hatchbacks I liked and I went with the versa sedan. I also formerly had a trecel. I don’t think a small sedan is as impractical as you think. If this were Europe then perhaps something like the versa would be your only car yes that might be impractical. However in the U.S. something like the versa serves a different purpose.
 
From my trecel experience, if it were too big to carry (which was not often) I could have it delivered. In addition if you have folding rear seats like the trecel and the versa sl sedan you can fit more. And there is plenty of space if you are the only person in the car.
 
However in the US the versa and the yaris are likely to be used as a second car or commuter car. So cargo carrying capacity is not as important. The only big market I can see for a cargo carrying subcompact is either a college kid who needs to carry his stuff home at the end of semester or maybe a small family. And in both cases you could go for something used and larger.
 
From reading forums, I would say that the people who felt they needed to move cargo went with the Fit. The rest were really not looking for driving experience and unable to find a fit at a price they liked went versa or yaris. The people who really wanted fuel efficiency the most went Fit and Yaris.

the fit isnt doing well in sales. That could be due to production constraints as people are suggesting but if that be the case Honda planned this launch poorly. My guess is the Fit is in high demand in certain Honda friendly areas on the coasts and isnt that popular in other areas. There is really no excuse for having a non-exotic car being in such short supply. It makes it seem as if Honda rushed the Fit over here without a way to provide the US market with the cars it needs. I'm sure Toyota and Nissan are thankful. I have seen so much hype over this vehicle in the press but I have only seen about 3 on the road.

I believe I read somewhere where the next Fit will be built in the U.S. and thats great. It doesnt have a lot of power but its lil' 1.5L engine is among the smoothest in the class.
 
1487, I think your being purposely stubborn in regards to the Fit. The Fit sells extremely well as there arent many on dealer lots. Again, supply doesnt meat demand. I dont live anywhere near the coast ( Im in central Ky) and I see quite a few Fits on my commute to/from work.
 
You seem to be lost as to why the Fit is poplular among the press. Before the Fit this segment really never had a package this fun or versatile, and it doesnt really feel like a "subcompact". It actually has a lot of room being the size it is, good material quality, versatility, and again the "fun to drive" character. The package as a whole is extremely competitive and its 6 years of age.

Sorry if I got a little intense, I am a bit of a FitFreak :)

I'm also a Fit Freak and a curse to anyone who disses the Fit! Fit Freaks Unite!!!