Honda is promising a new hybrid car that'll be "priced significantly lower than any other hybrid." SmartPlanet has learned the Honda Insight hybrid will go on sale in the UK for spring 2009, though the price is still shrouded in mystery. Considering today's basic Honda Civic Hybrid costs £17,145 and a basic Toyota Prius costs £17,145, my guess is we're looking at a hybrid for £15K or less.
While the price is unknown, the design isn't: it's essentially a tweaked version of the hydrogen FCX Clarity in the US and Japan. Green car fans will be able to see it first-hand at the Paris Motor Show this October. The look is certainly far less dowdy than Honda's current UK hybrid, the Civic Hybrid, which the Insight will complement rather than supplement.
The new Insight, which revives the name of Honda's US hybrid in 1999, will be a five door family hatchback. It'll be smaller than today's Civic Hybrid, which is one of the two top-ranking low carbon small family cars in the UK. Intriguingly, Honda says the Insight will have a "unique function to assist more fuel efficient driving": we'll have to wait for an explainer.
The Insight should give a boost to UK hybrids, which are facing stiff competition from cheaper diesel cars. Ford's Focus ECOnetic, for example, has attracted plaudits and undercuts both the Prius and the Civic Hybrid by more than a grand.
Honda also used the Insight news to remind us of its (already public) plans for three further hybrids: a new Civic Hybrid, a Jazz supermini hybrid, and a sporty hybrid based on its concept CR-Z design.
Watch this space for the price announcement on the Insight.
From right-to-left: Honda Insight, FCX Clarity, CR-Z concept
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