Yep, the engine is the same, just tuned for better emissions. I'm not sure about the rest of the changes. Perhaps they've made some more interior room. The final specs (Canadian) haven't been revealed to the public yet.
There's nothing wrong with inexpensive and reliable transportation. Toyota will have the overall best $10k car on the market, and perhaps the lowest TCO. The current Echo driver fatality rates are below industry averages, and hatchbacks with folding rear seats now offer a surprising amount of space. These small cars are way ahead of the econoboxes of the past.
The Fit does have some superb engineering, but like you pointed out, will likely be more expensive than Toyota's offering. It'll have to compete with the Yaris, xA, and xB single handily! Do you happen to know when the newer design will be unveiled? It'll be interesting to see what they've improved on, especially mechanically.
Honda seems to be expecting the small car market to
shrink over the next 5 years by up to 11%. Hmm...
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Against that competitive backdrop (to the Civic) is the fact that the small-car segment in the U.S. is expected to shrink. Relatively cheap gas and hefty consumer incentives have allowed consumers to buy larger cars. Consumer preferences have also shifted from traditional cars to sport-utilities and crossovers. Honda predicts the small-car decline could be as much as 11 percent over the next five years. "We intend to get a bigger piece of the shrinking pie," says Honda's Mendel.
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