Honda unveils small SUV at heart of expansion

An expansion of the already popular Fit family, Honda said the muscular yet compact car will offer a great alternative to customers who want the versatility of a sport utility vehicle with the size and handling of a small car.

“With aspirational and sophisticated styling, this urban SUV concept showcases the dynamic sculpting and vibrant character lines of a sporty coupe in the confident, capable stance of an SUV,” American Honda sales chief John Mendel told a press conference at the Detroit auto show.

“Younger buyers in particular are looking for the functionality of an SUV in an efficient, fun-to-drive package. And we think this vehicle is right on the money.”

The new model will hit the U.S. and Japanese markets in 2014 following the launch of the updated Fit before being rolled out worldwide.

Small cars like the Fit, City and urban SUV will be the “key to our future,” Honda chief executive Takanobu Ito said as he unveiled the concept car.

Honda forecasts that sales of this “global compact series” will expand from about 500,000 today to 1.5 million for the fiscal year ending in March 2017, Mendel told AFP.

That will help Honda drastically increase sales from four million to six million vehicles during the same period.

The remaining growth will come primarily from its core global models: the Accord, Civic and CRV.

“We see small continuing to grow,” Mendel said in an interview after the launch.

“We think that with continued pressure on fuel economy demands we'll see a continuation of that kind of Europeanization of the U.S. market: smaller, more rational but I want all the emotional content, I want the capability.”

There is a great deal of pent-up demand in the United States for Honda's Fit that will not be met until a new factory in Mexico comes online in 2014 with the capacity to build 200,000 vehicles a year, Mendel said.

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