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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.

Hurricane Sandy cost automakers 15,000 vehicles, may have ruined up to 200k

Hurricane Sandy was the largest Atlantic storm in US history, and its total economic impact is just now coming into view. According to Automotive News, Toyota, Chrysler, Nissan and Honda are set to scrap around 15,000 new vehicles ruined by the storm. Nissan alone accounts for about 40 percent of those, with 6,000 Nissan and Infiniti models deeded "un-saleable" due to damage. The company saw 56 dealerships shuttered due to the storm, but 51 of those have since reopened.
Toyota, meanwhile, had some 4,000 vehicles at its Newark port facility, and of those, 3,000 may be scrapped. An additional 825 were dealer inventory when they were ruined. Honda and Acura dealers are reportedly sending 3,440 vehicles to the salvage yard. By comparison, Chrysler weathered the storm fairly well with 825 units destroyed, while Hyundai suffered only 400 lost units and Kia scrapped around 200.
As you may recall, Fisker also suffered some losses, and Automotive News reports the manufacturer saw 320 Karma models damaged beyond repair. Ford and General Motors have yet to come up with estimates, and no automaker has commented on the full cost of replacing the vehicles.

Driving the Kia K5 and Mini Cooper JCW GP, plus an interview with Jimmy Chin | Autoblog Podcast #637

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and News Editor Joel Stocksdale. They veer off right away into talking about their dream project garages. Next up is news, including some info on the next Nissan Z car, the Honda Fit being discontinued in the U.S., new Mercedes-Benz EQS details, and some talk about the new, electric GMC Hummer being adapted for the military. Then they talk about driving the new Kia K5 sedan and the Mini Cooper JCW GP, before they opine about the 1966 Pontiac GTO. Autoblog Senior Producer Chris McGraw interviews Oscar-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin about his collaboration with Ford for the Bronco reveal, and more. Finally, our editors help a listener in the U.K. pick a used vehicle in the "Spend My Money" segment. Autoblog Podcast #637 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 Some thoughts on project cars News Nissan suggests the next-generation Z won't be electrified at launch Fit Is Gone! Honda drops subcompact hatch in U.S. Mercedes-Benz announces the electric EQS will offer over 435 miles of range GMC's electric Hummer could someday serve alongside the Humvee in the U.S. Army Driving the 2021 Kia K5 Driving the 2020 Mini Cooper JCW GP 1966 Pontiac GTO: Love it or hate it? We talk Ford Bronco and other adventures with Oscar-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: