2009 Honda Fit and 2009 Honda Fit Sport

If there's a company that sweats the details, it's Honda. When times are good, it's up two or three percent. When times are bad, it's down two or three percent. Not bad performance, unless you're looking for big headlines and the limelight. Other companies will make a bigger splash or know how to market a fortunate opportunity, but Honda just keeps plugging along.

Right now, times are good for Honda as it's the only major player in the U.S. to show a profit this year, and there's good reason. Take the new Gen II Honda Fit, for example. Honda brought it into the U.S. in 2006 reluctantly and with low expectations, hinting it would be happy to sell 50,000 units. Then fuel prices jumped, and now Honda's looking to sell a tick over 90,000 units at the end of this year. And because that original Honda Fit was introduced to the U.S. market during the middle of its model life, an all-new Honda Fit enters for 2009.

The first thing you'll notice about the new Fit is its more stylish and aero look. It's as if the nose and tail have been pulled from one another to give it a more forward-leaning, angular stance. The hood and nose are longer, with the front windshield raked with more angle, yet the rear design has more taper and dive to keep the conventional compact shape.

Honda says its biggest challenge was to keep the Fit looking like a minicar but make it bigger in every dimension. The overall length of the vehicle is longer by 2.2 in., wider by 1.4 in., longer in wheelbase by 2.0 in., with more shoulder room and headroom as well. Other key exterior changes include larger front quarter windows, larger, shapelier headlights, and sportier body-kit-like moldings.