The AP reports, "Honda will sell a new, improved and affordable gas-electric hybrid in the U.S., Japan and Europe starting in early 2009." Company President Takeo Fukui told reporters that the new model will be sold purely as a hybrid, with no gasoline-powered counterpart. The vehicle "will be a five-door sedan seating five passengers, and feature new technology that reduced the size and weight of the hybrid system to increase fuel efficiency," Honda says.
Reuters adds, "Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo said Honda hoped to price the hybrid-only car under 2 million yen ($19,290)." It is expected to be "similar in design to" Honda's FCX Clarity fuel-cell vehicle, pictured above. The name of the vehicle has not been announced. Honda hopes to sell 500,000 hybrids a year by 2010, "including the Civic hybrid, a new hybrid version of its popular Fit subcompact and a planned sports car based on the CR-Z concept model."
Honda was once a hybrid pioneer, but now has a lot of work to do to catch up to the segment leader. The Wall Street Journal notes, "In 1999, Honda was the first to launch a hybrid car, the Insight, to the U.S. market and later introduced hybrid versions of the Civic and Accord. But Honda's green efforts were quickly overshadowed by Toyota, whose four-seater Prius hybrid proved more practical for consumers than the two-seater Insight and has been a runaway hit with drivers since it first went on sale in the U.S. in 2000." Over the last ten years, "Toyota has sold more than 1.46 million hybrids world-wide, including more than one million Prius hybrids. Honda has sold about 262,000 hybrids to date and discontinued sales of two models, the Insight and Accord, because of poor sales."
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