Euro-Spec Honda Fit Now Offers Engine Stop/Start Technology – Should It Come Here?

Written by: Karla Sanchez  of www.motortrend.com

While the Honda Fit EV is en route to select California and Oregon markets, the Japanese automaker continues to turn up the green factor, announcing the Euro-spec Honda Fit will be available with an engine stop/start system to improve fuel economy. With the technology already spreading into the subcompact segment, we wonder whether it might serve Honda well in the subcompact segment here in the U.S.

As the 2012 Honda Fit approaches the end of its life cycle, the hatchback gets as high as 28/35 mpg city/highway. The 2013 Kia Rio will be available with the tech in the Eco model that adds 1 mpg in the city for an EPA-estimated rating of 31/40 mpg. In our 2012 Kia Rio First Drive story, we noted that the system wasn’t as seamless as it could be, but “isn’t bad at all for a first go-around in a segment that thrives on value.”

The Euro-spec Honda Fit, dubbed the Jazz (pictured at right), with Idle Stop will deliver slight improvements in mileage and emissions, and while drivers will benefit from the Fit’s new system overseas, prospective Fit buyers in the U.S. will not. Honda spokeswoman Jessica Fini told us there are “no plans in the near future” to integrate Idle Stop in Fits slated for the U.S. The technology is currently available on Honda hybrids, including the CR-Z and Insight.

 Those hybrids, like other Hondas including the Fit, are shipped from Japan and are no longer profitable because of the high Yen-to-dollar exchange rate. Declining sales might not help, either: Fit, Insight, and CR-Z sales were all down through the first five months of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011. To help turn things around, Honda recently announced it will source the U.S.-market Fit hatchback from Mexico starting in 2014. Though it doesn’t appear the current-generation Fit will get engine stop/start tech, should Honda consider adding it for the redesigned U.S.-spec subcompact model? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Source;
http://wot.motortrend.com/euro-spec-honda-fit-now-offers-engine-stopstart-technology-should-it-come-here-217601.html