2011 Honda Fit

What's next for the 2011 Honda Fit

Honda could make the 2011 Fit available with the super-fuel-efficient continuously variable automatic transmission it offers in the Jazz, the Japanese-market version of this car. But the bigger story would be a true Fit hybrid.

Honda made waves with introduction of the 2010 Insight, a hybrid-only hatchback larger than Fit on the outside but slightly smaller inside. Helped by the cost-efficient IMA, Insight’s $20,470 base price pressed Toyota to launch its redesigned 2010 Prius at $22,750.

Prius is a larger, faster, and more-fuel-efficient hybrid than the Insight, and most industry observers envisioned it priced at $24,000 or higher. Prius opened a big sales lead over the Insight, denting Honda’s corporate ambition to be considered just as green as Toyota. A hybrid Fit could help Honda’s cause with a price even lower than the Insight’s. Honda reportedly is committed to holding the premium for a Fit hybrid to $2,000 over a gas-only Fit. That would mean a Fit hybrid could come in under $18,000.

If Honda decides to create a Fit hybrid, it almost certainly would offer it first in Japan, where hybrid competition is most fierce. That could come as early as the 2010 model year. Industry observers are divided on when a Fit hybrid might come to the U.S. Some speculate Honda may hold off until it introduces the third-generation Fit, which would be for model-year 2014 or 2015.

2011 Honda Fit Release Date

Look for the 2011 Honda Fit in showrooms by late-summer 2010.