The Civic and Ballade were the best known over the years, and relatively successful. Then there was also the Prelude, Accord, Inspire and Legend.

Honda’s perception is that of a large, powerful, luxury badge, competing with the European luxury badges. The Honda Legend is the epitome of such. In Zimbabwe, therefore, the brand has largely been ignored over the years, being out of reach for many, and also perceived to be expensive to own. The Zimbabwean perception of luxury has long been Mercedes and BMW, with Japanese badges perceived as affordable mass market cars. Toyota, Mazda, and Nissan have been the choice Japanese brands.

Things changed around the turn of the century, however, with the entry of the relatively popular mini SUV, Honda CR-V, which became very popular especially among the ladies. The people mover, Odyssey, also made some ground in re-establishing Honda on Zimbabwean roads.

However, there can be no argument that Honda firmly took over Zimbabwean roads with the entry of the inimitable small package in the form of the Honda Fit. We bow our heads to that one! The Honda Fit has been singularly responsible for changing Honda’s brand perception from elitist and expensive, to the most widely available and utilitarian brand on Zimbabwe’s roads. The Honda Fit simply and easily replaced the Toyota Corolla in terms of popularity; so popular that it is the most used and abused compact car running around Zimbabwean roads, rural and urban.