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.
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