Canadian Journalist Meets Chinese Fit, Digital Film At 11

Sourcing Canadian-market Fits from China instead of Japan is about one thing and one thing only: the globalization of the automotive business. Look, we’ve got Camaros made in Ontario, Nissans from Tennessee and Fiats—yes, Fiats—made in Mexico, so a Fit from China shouldn’t be a surprise. In this case, if globalization allows Honda Canada to be more profitable and employ more Canadians, then it’s all upside, isn’t it?

So says my occasional competitor and racing partner Brian Makse in his recent review of a Chinese-built Fit. Brian notes that Fits sold south of the Windsor strip clubs continue to be sourced from Japan. If Honda knows what’s good for them, they will keep it that way.

Brian’s review is short and to the point: he doesn’t see any difference between Japanese and Chinese Fits, and he is surrounded by Chinese-made products such as his iPhone anyway, so what’s the problem? I would suggest that there are, in fact, multiple problems with Honda’s decision to bring Chinese-assembled cars to North America, and that those problems will primarily affect Honda itself.

I can dimly recall reading some fatuous statement by Dr. Z or some similar fellow in a color rag many years ago that “We want people to think of the phrase ‘Made By Mercedes’, not ‘made in Germany’, when they think of our products.” Anyone who has ever had the fantastically unpleasant experience of owning a first-generation M-Class will no doubt experience a bit of PTSD while considering the idea of “made by Mercedes, not made in Germany”. Even in our “globalized” economy, even as we all sing “Kumbaya” and all of the United States occupies itself day and night with wedge issues like gay marriage while cheerfully packing up every remaining middle-class job in the country and shipping it back to China in the same container that brought us our bread-and-circuses idiot boxes, it still matters where a product is assembled. More specifically, it still matters where the suppliers are located. Suppliers are the secret weakness of every automaker. Ever since GM and Volkswagen briefly made “J. Ignacio Lopez” a household word, the suppliers have suffering under the double burdens of expected quality and relentless cost-cutting. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about the flimsy brake switch I extricated from Vodka McBigbra’s Hyundai Accent last year, or the CTS-made pedals which were so clearly price-eviscerated that Toyota had no trouble moving a lot of the blame for unintended acceleration their way, or the plastic door handles on the new Enclave that had me “riding the wave”. Suppliers are the soft underbelly of automotive quality.

In fact, pressure on suppliers has grown so fierce that, based on off-the-record conversations I’ve had with supplier personnel within the United States, only the fear of crippling lawsuits keeps further corners from being cut. Everybody saw how quickly Toyota threw CTS under the liability bus. That kind of thing generates enough fear for an engineer to successfully keep a useful bushing or fuse in a subassembly, right? “If we leave this bushing out, the pedal could stick and we could get sued SO HARD IN THE YOU KNOW WHAT, so let’s put the bushing in.” Guess a country where suppliers don’t have to care about stuff like that? Hint: it sort of rhymes with “vagina”. If the accelerator pedal in a Chinese Fit fails, Honda will take the rap in North America, not the faceless supplier.

Therefore, while I have every confidence in Mr. Makse’s ability to evaluate the tactile and dynamic quality of the Chinese Fit compared to a Japanese one, I still wouldn’t pay my own money for one. I’m not the only person who feels this way, and I’m pretty sure this attitude exists north of the border as well. Honda has enough problems, and every TTAC reader is aware of them. They don’t need to add “made in China” to their list of liabilities. Consumers don’t make fine distinctions, and if the word gets out that “Hondas are Chinese”, it will affect the perception of everything from the Fit to the Acura RL.

This decision to bring Fits to Canada from China, along with a similar decision taken last year to expand Mexican capacity at the expense of American production, doesn’t leave much doubt in my mind about Honda’s future direction. Instead of reaching for the proverbial stars with exciting, enthusiast-friendly small cars, they’ve chosen to race Nissan to the low-cost cellar. It’s not good news for Honda fans, and for your humble author, it’s not much of a consolation to say I told you so.