Our First Chinese Car Is Here For The Week

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

Today was a historic day in my automotive life; I drove my first Chinese car.

As previously mentioned, TTAC has gotten their hands on a Chinese-made Honda Fit. It’s nothing special; Canada has been getting Chinese-made Fits for the better part of a year now. Europe has been getting Chinese-made models (sold as the Jazz) for half a decade. At first glance, quality issues seem to be non-existent, though the choice of paint color made me chuckle.

Some commenters suggested that a Chinese made Fit was actually a non-story, but I respectfully disagree. That North America’s first Chinese car came from an established OEM rather than a Chinese brand trying to get a foothold in North America is important in itself. Honda couldn’t have greater connotations of Japanese engineering superiority if it tried, and the Fit has always been a Japan-made anomaly in a field of North American built competitors. Whether the Fit is still competitive in a field of newer, more advanced subcompacts is another matter.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • PintoFan PintoFan on Oct 30, 2012

    You have to laugh at the people defending Chinese product quality by citing I-products, TV's and laptops. The last time I checked, most consumer electronics were fundamentally disposable, instantly obsolete crap that would make Alfred P. Sloan blush. If Kreindler was really serious about demonstrating the quality of Chinese products, he would politely ask Honda if he could drive it into a wall at 30 mph. I went to a house auction a few years ago, for a couple that was downsizing and moving to Florida. They had a lot of antiques for sale, but by far the most interesting thing they had was the 50-year-old Westinghouse chest freezer in the basement. Opening it up let out a blast of cold air that would have made an Eskimo shiver. The old man proudly informed me that besides a new belt for the compressor in the 90's and the occasional grease job, every part on it was as new as the day it came out of the factory. You couldn't buy an equivalent today, because there's no money in marketing appliances built to last a lifetime. I would have taken it off his hands then and there, had it not weighed the better part of 600 lbs. The sale of this car should be suspended until Honda can prove, through certified crash testing, that it meets all applicable Canadian standards. Poorly made consumer electronics are a nuisance. Unsafe cars are a public menace,

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    • PintoFan PintoFan on Oct 31, 2012

      @infinitime " You fail to understand that all suppliers to the plant must meet Honda’s standards." In theory. And there's nothing to say those standards won't be bent if cheaper materials are available. Especially when the intended market is Chinese domestic, and not for export. "You also fail to appreciate the sheer volume of products manufactured in China." Oh, I am quite aware of it. I have had more than enough experience with motherboards that commit capacitor suicide, failing power supplies, video cards that are designed to fail, washing machines and vacuum cleaners that are junk after 3 years, and myriad other examples to know their manufacturing philosophy. If you want to waste your money, go ahead, but I won't be fooled. It's too bad that we don't have a choice in a lot of categories anymore.

  • Pch101 Pch101 on Oct 30, 2012

    "the Fit has always been a Japan-made anomaly in a field of North American built competitors." When the Fit was launched in the US in 2006, it was competing against Aveos, Rios and Accents made in Korea, and a Scion xA and Toyota Yaris built in Japan. Nissan started building the Versa in Mexico, and Ford didn't have a subcompact at that time. The only things that have changed since then is that GM now makes the subcompact in Michigan and Ford has launched a subcompact built in Mexico. Hyundai, Kia and TMC still produce their subcompacts outside of North America. I would presume that Canada is being used as a trial balloon to test North American acceptance of Chinese-made cars. If Canada embraces them, then they may very well try to expand the effort to the US.

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    • 95_SC 95_SC on Oct 31, 2012

      I think Honda would love to sell a Chinese made Fit in the US. The reality is that there is a very prevelant sentiment in the US that China=Crap. We are still at least a generation away from that changing enough that people will plunk out the price of a car IMHO if it is made in China. Also, Honda's fetch a premium price wise. Anyone buying a Chinese built car is going to expect Yugo pricing, not the Honda Tax. Also, "North American" acceptance does not equal US acceptance. The automotive landscape in Canada and the US is not the same.

  • CJinSD CJinSD on Oct 31, 2012

    There was zero evidence that Americans could build high quality cars until Honda set up shop in Ohio.

  • Whuffo2 Whuffo2 on Nov 01, 2012

    What I find interesting is that Honda makes the Fit for export only. It's a low-budget version of the Honda Jazz which has the same body, but much nicer interior and many more standard features - and better engines. They're making the Fit in China, Thailand, (and other countries) and US Fits will be made in Canada soon. The Jazz is made in Japan. I've been doing some research into these; it's about time for a new car here to replace the Jimny, and the Jazz is at the top of my short list. They're pretty nice. Something that I see over and over again is that in the US, small cars are cheaper in every way. Cardboard door panels, bare minimum interiors, tiny engines. The auto companies go out of their way to make them undesirable - leading consumers to "upgrade" to larger vehicles than they need to get something reasonably well appointed. I keep wondering what would happen if smaller "right sized" vehicles were built with all the "good stuff" that's currently reserved for the larger cars. The Japanese (and Germans) know very well how to do this and these vehicles would probably sell well; they wouldn't be a lot cheaper than the larger cars at purchase, but they'd use a lot less fuel.

    • CJinSD CJinSD on Nov 01, 2012

      US market Honda Fits have been made in Japan since their introduction. The Fit name is used in Japan, and the JDM version being substandard would be news to the Japanese. The engine used in the US Fit is the most powerful one offered in any Fit, and has 17% more power than the top engine fitted to a Jazz for Europe. The Jazz engines are optimized for EU CO2 based taxation, but that doesn't make them any more fun to drive. The Jazz is made in Thailand and England, if not in other countries as well. So other than being wrong in pretty much everything you wrote about the Fit, you made some interesting points. There is some decontenting evident in US Fits(cargo shelf is a dealer installed option - come on!), but that may change when production shifts to Mexico and Honda gets serious about selling them. The Yen is too strong for the Fit to be profitable, which may be why they rate the fuel mileage so low. The automatic is rated at 30 mpg combined, while magazine tests have returned 36 mph while being driven much faster than the EPA testing regiment involves. The US made Civic is almost certainly cheaper to bring to market than the Japanese Fit, but the Civic can command higher prices. I'm sure Honda would rather make money on Civics than lose it on Fits. The $19,240 that it costs to put a Fit Sport in your California driveway doesn't seem cheap for a subcompact, so going up a couple grand to add interior color choices and a sunroof isn't going to turn the Fit into a 3-series alternative. Not far above the Fit in price is the Prius. If you care about fuel use above all else, you can get a roomy car driven by celebrities and the very rich for about what Europeans are paying for their diesel penalty boxes. Making tiny, expensive cars to save fuel is a non-starter in a country where the average car accumulates 15,000 miles a year.

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