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Honda planning a second Vezel for developing markets

The new Honda Vezel was designed as a global product. Unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in November, the compact crossover is already going on sale in Japan, will soon reach Europe and will eventually hit the North American market as well - albeit with a different name and engine lineup. But it won't be sold everywhere.
According to Autocar India, the Vezel was originally earmarked to reach the emerging market on the subcontinent, but the declining value of the rupee has apparently forced Honda to rethink its strategy. Instead, the Japanese automaker is now expected to develop a second compact crossover - one more cost-effective to produce locally - for sale in India and other, nearby developing markets.
The new model would be based on the Brio, a hatchback that's smaller than the Fit (on which the Vezel is based) and built in India, Thailand and Indonesia. Honda has already enlarged the Brio's platform to create the Amaze sedan and Mobilio minivan. Building a crossover on the same platform would reportedly require some re-engineering - particularly around the wheel wells - but would apparently still be more cost-effective than importing the Vezel.

Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'

The Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability Survey (right) is out, and the top two spots look much the same as last year's list with Lexus and Toyota in first and second place, respectively. However, there are some major shakeups for 2014, with Acura plunging eight spots from third in 2013 to 11th this year, and Mazda replaces it on the lowest step of the podium. Honda and Audi round out the top five. This year's list includes six Japanese brands in the top 10, two Europeans, one America and one Korean.
Acura isn't the only one taking a tumble, though. Infiniti is the biggest loser this year by dropping 14 spots to 20th place. Other big losses come from Mercedes-Benz with an 11-place fall to 24th, and GMC, which declines 10 positions to 19th.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not traditional mechanical bugs hauling down these automaker's reliability scores. Instead, pesky problems with infotainment systems are taking a series toll on the rankings. According to Consumer Reports, complaints about "in-car electronics" were the most grumbled about element in new cars. Problem areas included things like unresponsive touchscreens, issues pairing phones and multi-use controllers that refused to work right.

2015 Honda Fit

The last time we left our subcompact hero, the plucky Honda Fit was getting a bit long in the tooth. But the second-generation model was still holding its own rather well, and for the enthusiast on a tight budget who wanted it all, it remained the car of record in its class. If you desired an endlessly practical and reliable little hatch that was fun to drive, it didn't get much better than the Fit. Even with nearly every competitor having been fully freshened since the model's introduction in 2009, the Honda managed to fight off also-ran status simply because of how incredibly functional and great to drive it was. Long story short: we loved this car.
Of course, there were a few caveats to the Fit's superhero status. It wasn't particularly fuel efficient, only mustering up, at best, 33 miles per gallon on the highway in a segment where 40-mpg quickly became the new benchmark. What's more, its onboard technology and infotainment was seriously showing its age. While we'd praise the Fit's behind-the-wheel goodness all day long, this shining beacon of great steering and suspension tuning never proved to be all that wonderful for long-distance highway cruising.
Now, say hello to the 2015 Fit, hitting dealerships this spring. Worry not - it's still clever as ever from a packaging standpoint, and comes fitted with lots of newness both inside and out. It's a far more competitive vehicle than its predecessor, and has everything it takes to fight even the toughest of classmates. But just as before, our recommendation doesn't come without a few caveats.