t’s the end of an era for some models on the Honda fleet. Earlier this week, Honda announced it will be discontinuing a few of its well-known car models at the end of 2020, due to lack of sales. According to Automotive News, Honda will be saying goodbye to several makes; the Honda Fit, the Civic coupe and the stickshift Accord.
Honda gets rid of Fit, Civic Coupe and Stickshift Accord
Since the Honda Civic Hatchback was introduced, sales for the Fit saw a drastic decrease. Honda is confident that the Civic coupe and Accord will not be missed, as just 6% of U.S. buyers were opting for the coupe option and just 2% were opting for the stickshift Accord.
Many are sad to see the Honda Fit go, as it’s one of the best, but affordable cars you can buy brand new. It’s extremely efficient on fuel and fun to drive with a surprisingly roomy interior, given the size of the car. Honda will now use the subcompact HR-V crossover, and base levels of the Civic as its entry-level vehicle models. With the Ford Fiesta, Mazda 2, and Toyota Yaris preceding the Honda Fit’s discontinue, the options for a cheap subcompact car have rapidly decreased recently.
The list of Honda makes available for purchase with a manual transmission has dropped to just two for the 2021 year: the Civic Type R and the Civic Hatchback Sport.
Other than the selling factor, why did Honda make this move? According to Cars.com, only 1.3% of vehicles sold in the U.S. have a manual transmission, which is a 3.4% drop from 2010. So yeah it’s definitely a blow for those Honda lovers who were also stick shifters, but who knows, maybe Honda will announce something exciting soon! In the meantime, rest in peace Fit, Civic Coupe, and manual Accord.
