The decision to upgrade a model rather than remake it entirely is one that certainly can save a company some money in the design and development process. Of course if a refresh of more than fifty percent of a vehicle is needed, chances are the company will choose to lean more toward a complete remodel. This decision is also based upon how long a model has been in production as the presses of the production line would have to be redesigned in order to make them ready for the new lineup of a vehicle to be created and built on the press run.
News has recently reached us that the Honda Fit might be entering its fourth generation as early as 2019. While that may not shock some people, the new, third generation was just introduced in 2015 which means the car would only have a production run of four years, marking what would be one of the shortest generations in any vehicle history. For this reason we wonder if the company will instead choose to refresh the third generation model and let it continue on for a few more years with the upgrades needed to make this new version of the Fit what it should be.
The news of changes came from a Japanese publication that suggests the 2019 Fit will offer the same style up front as the new Civic. This makes perfect sense since Honda is leaning toward standardizing the design language it uses. This will give the Fit the “Solid Wing Face” that is enjoyed on other Honda models and give it sharper LED headlights along with some front bumper changes. These design elements certainly don’t warrant a complete change to the car which would make it a new generation, but other planned changes just might.
The publication went on to suggest the new Fit will use a 1.0-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine that is already in use on the European version of the Civic. This would give the new Fit 127 horsepower which would be a boost from where it is now. Another possibility discussed is a hybrid variant that might use a 1.5-liter i-VTEC four-cylinder engine that makes use of the i-MMD system. These changes could be made without creating an entire new generation of the car as different power options are easy enough to incorporate without changing the entire production line, but there might be one change that would cause Honda to create a new generation so soon.
The Honda Fit is expected to lose around 66 pounds when the 2019 model comes out. As a car that is already light on its feet this could be a dramatic difference and be the reason for the new generational change. Of course this change could happen because of all the modifications being made that need to be incorporated into the production line in order to make it efficient for Honda to continue to build the Fit. Regardless of what Honda chooses, having a new Fit discussed so soon after the current generation is offered shows the impatience we want to see from an automaker that wants to make their vehicles even better than before.
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