Honda to drop Insight, plans new small hybrid

[quaoar]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/columnists/14602945.htm

Honda Motor will drop its Honda Insight hybrid because of poor sales, but the Japanese automaker today revealed plans to introduce a new five-seat gasoline-electric car by 2009 that would be smaller and cheaper than its popular Honda Civic Hybrid.

The two-seat Insight, the first hybrid vehicle sold in the U.S. market by a major automaker, has declined in popularity compared with Toyota's Prius and Honda's Civic hybrids. Honda sold only 666 Insights in the United States last year, compared with 25,864 Civic Hybrids and 16,826 Accord Hybrids.

According to a Bloomberg News report, Honda President Takeo Fukui expects to sell 200,000 a year of the new subcompact hybrid, about half of that in North America. According to a report by the Detroit Free Press, Honda's new subcompact hybrid won't be a version of its high-gas-mileage Honda Fit subcompact, which was recently introduced at U.S. dealers.

[cornermouse]

1. Sounds like a collector's item to me...

[jean]

2. Please, Honda. Come up with something for tall, lanky people.

[noshenanigans]

3. Are Hondas so scrunchy?

I drove my Fiance's Civic the other day and even when I had the seat all the way back I was still in the steering wheel and my head hit the ceiling. And I'm only 5'9"!

[goforit]

4. OH no!!!....Those cars are adorable!!!

Hell I'd love to have one now!

[CatholicEdHead]

5. The Insight is an odd design compared to the other two

The Insight is an early hybrid design. The Civic and Prius are better designs that make the hybrid feel like a normal car and the Inisght is quirky enough that you do not get that feel. Plus the Insight is really cramped.