WAKO, Japan -- Honda Motor Co. is ready to take a run at one of the U.S. auto industry’s fastest-growing segments: compact, sporty crossovers.
The Vezel -- a small crossover based on Honda’s redesigned Fit subcompact -- goes on sale in Japan on Dec. 20 and in the United States in the second half of 2014.
It will compete in an increasingly crowded segment of small utility vehicles that includes such rivals as the Mazda CX-5, Nissan Juke and Subaru XV Crosstrek.