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2015 Honda Fit production gets underway in Mexico

After two years of construction, Honda's new factory in Celaya, Mexico, has officially begun production of the all-new 2015 Fit in North America. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Honda President and CEO Takanobu Ito both attended the opening and watched the first Fit roll off the line at the $800-million plant. Later this year, Honda will add production of its new Vezel small crossover to the new facility, though the latter is expected to be marketed in North America under a new name.
The Celaya factory will specialize in building subcompact cars by employing cutting-edge tech to use less material and less energy during production. Honda is still constructing a $470-million transmission plant on the campus to build continuously variable transmissions in the second half of 2015. When it's finished, it is expected to have an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles and employ 3,200 people.
With the facility's completion, Honda now has a 1.92-million unit annual production capacity in North America, and it claims that when Celaya reaches full production, 95-percent of vehicles sold in the US will be built in North America. The new Fit has already proven quite popular in Japan, and now we will have to wait and see if North American buyers embrace it as well. The first new Fit customer cars will hit the roads later this spring, and as Honda spokesman Steve Kinkade tells Autoblog, all Fit models sold in North American will be built at the plant. Scroll down to read the full press release about the Fit and its new Mexican home.

Will states start to prevent you from registering cars that have pending recalls?

The impact of 2014 – henceforth known as Year of the Recalls – will have long-ranging consequences on the auto industry. One of the biggest changes, though, might not be in the way manufacturers inform the government of pending recalls or in the way Uncle Sam punishes automakers that violate its rules, but in the ability to sell cars with pending recalls. And strangely enough, the charge is being led by an automaker. Honda Executive Vice President Rick Schostek, pictured above, argued during a meeting of the Senate Transportation Committee that the government needs to take a role in mandating that consumers have recall services performed. That could include withholding registration for vehicles with pending recalls, Bloomberg reports. Honda is just one of the automakers currently embroiled in the massive Takata airbag recall. "It's a good idea," safety advocate Clarence Ditlow said, according to Bloomberg. "California won't give you a registration if you have an emissions recall. Why not a safety recall?" "Honda is going to use any innovative tools to find customers and get these recalls done," Schostek told the Transportation Committee. The exec, aside from echoing Ditlow's viewpoint, also argued for requiring dealerships and garages to inform vehicle owners of incomplete recalls, regardless of the service provided. Schostek also made an argument that state governments could step in, as well. Whatever ends up happening, it's fair to say that between Takata and General Motors, the future of recalls for American consumers are set for significant changes. News Source: BloombergImage Credit: J. Scott Applewhite / AP Government/Legal Recalls Honda Ownership Safety

Baby Ford Ranger and electrified Dodge Challenger? | Autoblog Podcast #569

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Green Editor John Beltz Snyder. They address a couple interesting news topics, including an upcoming Ford pickup that's smaller than the Ranger, as well as a future electrified Dodge Challenger. They also opine about the new Honda Urban EV prototype that's scheduled to debut at the Geneva Motor Show. Then they talk about the cars they've been driving, including the new Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid, Volvo V60 and Audi A6. Finally, they take a question from Autoblog's recent Reddit AMA to help spend a Redditor's money. Autoblog Podcast #569 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Ford Focus-based pickup Electrified Dodge Challenger Honda Urban EV Cars we've been driving 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid 2019 Volvo V60 2019 Audi A6 Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: Green Podcasts Audi Dodge Ford Honda Subaru Volvo Truck Coupe Crossover Hatchback Wagon Electric Hybrid Performance