Tensions were already running high at Honda Motor Co. in October 2011, two months after Consumer Reports ridiculed the onetime favorite Civic as a substandard car, when President Takanobu Ito saw drawings of the next Fit. He ripped up the plans and summoned his top two designers.
"The design had no character and looked very much like its predecessor," said Yoshinori Asahi, who co-designed Honda's top-of-the line NSX supercar. "That made us worried about the future of the car."
Almost two years later, Honda unveiled the overhauled Fit on Friday with a stretched front grille, tapered headlights and indented doors. Ito has said much is riding on the Fit, singling out the car as a driver of Honda's global growth until at least 2015, especially in emerging markets, as motorists increasingly shift toward smaller automobiles.