Honda's Prius-fighter

New five-seat hybrid-only Insight will go on sale in the United States this spring.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
by Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com senior writer

honda_insight_concept.03.jpg
Honda Insight concept

Find your next Car


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Honda Motor Co. unveiled a pure-hybrid concept car Thursday that hopes to go head to head with Toyota's wildly popular Prius.

The carmaker showed images of the Insight that will go on sale in the United States in the spring, it said. The car, which will be sold only as a hybrid, will be a five-seat hatchback and will be priced "significantly below hybrids available today," Honda said in an announcement.

The only hybrid car now on sale here that is available only as a hybrid is the Toyota Prius.

Hybrids, like the Prius and Insight, use electric motors to assist a gasoline engine in powering the car. Electricity to power the electric motors is generated during braking and from the gasoline engine.

Toyota sold more than 180,000 Priuses in the U.S. in 2007, making it America's most popular hybrid car and Toyota's third best-selling car after the Camry mid -size car and Corolla compact. Honda sold 32,500 Civic Hybrids that year.

Insight was also the name of a two-seat hybrid car Honda introduced in the U.S. in 1999. It was the first hybrid sold here.

The two-seat Insight had the highest fuel economy of any vehicle available in the U.S. at that time. Under current EPA test procedures, it would have been rated at 63 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving, compared with 46 for a Toyota Prius.

Nevertheless, very few were sold as customers turned instead to the roomier Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid, introduced in 2002. In 2005 just 666 Insights were sold. Honda stopped selling it in 2006.

"The original Honda Insight pioneered hybrid technology in the U.S. and remains a symbol of Honda's commitment to innovative technology and fuel efficiency," said Takeo Fukui, Honda Motor Co. CEO, in a corporate announcement.

The new Insight is expected to have an improved version of Honda's "Integrated Motor Assist" hybrid system, a version of which was used on the original Insight and in the Civic Hybrid.

Honda did not release a specific price for the new Insight or expected fuel economy figures. The car will be officially unveiled at the Paris International Auto Show on Oct. 2.

Honda expects to sell 100,000 Insights in the U.S. per year and 200,000 worldwide.

In addition to the Insight, Honda also plans to introduce a unique "sporty" hybrid vehicle, the company said. The company did not announce when it plans to introduce that vehicle.

Honda expects total hybrid sales of 500,000 vehicles or more than 10 percent of its worldwide annual sales, the company said. To top of page

Features
They're hiring!These Fortune 100 employers have at least 350 openings each. What are they looking for in a new hire? More
If the Fortune 500 were a country...It would be the world's second-biggest economy. See how big companies' sales stack up against GDP over the past decade. More
Sponsored By:
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.