Honda has officially unveiled the Honda Insight Concept which is an early look at Honda's newest five-passenger hybrid.
The Honda Insight Concept is going to be officially unveiled on October 2nd at the 2008 Paris International Auto Show. It's obvious that the Insight shares much of its styling cues with the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle. The new Insight will be in showrooms next April.
Honda is targeting about 100,000 units in the US, which is far more than the original Insight ever sold here.
"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., Ltd. CEO. "This new Insight will break new ground as an affordable hybrid within the reach of customers who want great fuel economy and great value."
The Insight is smaller than the current Civic and Prius hybrids and will also be cheaper than both models.
The retrurn of the new Insight will hit the mark ten years after the first Insight was released, which was the first hybrid to officially be sold in the US.
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PRESS RELEASE:
Honda Insight Concept Hybrid Vehicle to Debut at Paris International Auto Show
Honda will reveal a concept version of its new small hybrid vehicle, to be named Insight, at the 2008 Paris International Auto Show, October 2, the company announced today. The new Insight Concept shares styling cues with the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle and will provide an early look at the highly-anticipated five-passenger hybrid vehicle.
Going on sale in the U.S. next spring, the all-new purpose-built Insight will come to market at a price significantly below hybrids available today. From this unique position in the marketplace, the Insight will advance the affordability and accessibility of hybrid technology to a new generation of buyers.
"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., Ltd. CEO. "This new Insight will break new ground as an affordable hybrid within the reach of customers who want great fuel economy and great value."
The Insight Concept defines a new stage in the evolution of hybrid technology by utilizing a more cost-efficient version of Honda's Integrated Motor Assist™ (IMA™) hybrid technology, resulting in a new level of affordability for hybrid customers worldwide. Evoking the innovative styling cues first seen in the FCX Clarity, the Insight Concept is designed with a low center of gravity and a generous five-passenger cabin, offering the kind of driving pleasure and roomy interior that customers have come to expect from Honda. While the Insight Concept's aerodynamic design clearly identifies its fuel efficient purpose, its five-door access and folding rear seats speak to functionality that is designed to meet the needs of customers with an active lifestyle. The Insight Concept is a small, fuel efficient hybrid car that delivers big style and functionality with a healthy dose of fun.
Honda achieved a significant cost reduction in Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) components which should make Insight the most affordable hybrid vehicle to date. The production Insight will be offered as a five-door, five-passenger hatchback. Numerous technologies, including a function to assist customers in achieving more fuel efficient driving habits, will be applied to achieve a further improvement in real world fuel efficiency. With its affordable price, the new hybrid vehicle will represent the best value in its segment. Along with the Civic Hybrid, the new vehicle will be produced at an expanded hybrid vehicle production line at the Suzuka factory in Japan.
The Insight is expected to have annual global sales of 200,000 units per year - approximately 100,000 in North America. Following the launch of the new Insight, Honda also plans to introduce another unique sporty hybrid vehicle based on the CR-Z, first shown at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. All together, Honda's global sales of hybrids should increase to approximately 500,000 units a year, or more than 10 percent of its total worldwide annual automobile sales.
The original Honda Insight was introduced in December 1999 as America's first gas-electric hybrid car. The first vehicle to break the 70-mpg fuel economy barrier, Insight was designed from the ground up to demonstrate the ultimate potential for fuel-economy in a two-seater subcompact automobile.
A leader in the development of cleaner, more fuel-efficient mobility products, Honda introduced the first low-emission gasoline vehicles; America's first gas-electric hybrid car and the world's first EPA-certified hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the FCX. In 2007, Honda was named "greenest automaker" by the Union of Concerned Scientists for the fourth straight time.
For more information and downloadable high-resolution images of the Insight Concept and other Honda vehicles, including the Civic Hybrid, please visit www.hondanews.com. Consumer information is available at www.honda.com.
Comments (20)
Just as ugly as the original.
Posted by JoePDX | September 4, 2008 11:12 AM
Posted on September 4, 2008 11:12
The outside is nice and clean. I hope they don't try that tacky videogame dashboard they f*d up the Civic with.
Posted by Badconsumer | September 4, 2008 12:06 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 12:06
What a shame. If I didn't know this was a Honda, I'd say someone just put a Civic grill on their Prius. Honda missed a great opportunity to create a unique competitor to their Toyota counterparts, but unfortunately chose to continue the current Japanese trend of unoriginal styling.
Oh well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, as they say.
Posted by Jimb | September 4, 2008 12:09 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 12:09
good lord. can somebody say prius ripoff? how original. shame on you honda.
Posted by Dan | September 4, 2008 12:14 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 12:14
good lord. can somebody say prius ripoff? how original. shame on you honda.
Posted by Dan | September 4, 2008 12:15 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 12:15
Nothing wrong with a ripoff...especially if they can undercut Toyota on price. A little competition is always healthy.
These guys all take their concepts into the wind tunnel, and if they are looking for the most wind-efficient model possible, they will all come out looking roughly the same anyway. Get over it.
Posted by WS | September 4, 2008 12:37 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 12:37
It's cheaper but it's also much smaller.
Smaller than a Civic......can't be much bigger than a Fit.
Posted by paranoyd | September 4, 2008 2:05 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 14:05
It's no wonder hybrid cars never really took off in america. They are all so ugly, each and every one. Car manufactures need to realize that , for most americans, the #1 factor in buying a car is its looks. Most people don't want a hybrid as it is, but at least stop making them butt-ass ugly.
Posted by mbw | September 4, 2008 2:11 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 14:11
the thing is, about the styling of hybrids... they look that way because thats the most aerodynamic shape (well probably not most, but close) they can get without making ppl puke when they see the car
i think it looks... well, better than the Prius because there's more going on in the grille and headlights - on the prius theres one little plastic bar that runs in the middle of the grille while on this theres chrome, that little gray-ish bit, LED headlights, etc. looks more upscale than the prius imo
those wheels, though, they have to go
Posted by Eddie | September 4, 2008 2:35 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 14:35
Well, if you really think about it, that shape has been around since what 1985 in a form of CRX. They just added two doors to it. So technically, Prius is the rip off.
Posted by mechelaar | September 4, 2008 2:52 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 14:52
Well, if you really think about it, that shape has been around since what 1985 in a form of CRX. They just added two doors to it. So technically, Prius is the rip off.
Posted by mechelaar | September 4, 2008 2:52 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 14:52
mechelaar is right. for those ignorant ones who say without knowing the whole story that Insight is the copy, please do your homework and you will find out that Prius was copying Insight... a lot.
Posted by vancouverboy | September 4, 2008 5:41 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 17:41
when it comes to physics and shapes for aerodynamics, there is only so much you can do. They want the least wind resistant body for their hybirds so of course they are going to look relativily the same. Look at the super cars that can go 230+ ( minus the veyron) they all have relativly the same shape because they need least wind resistance with downforce.
Posted by TrainRekS | September 4, 2008 8:36 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 20:36
@ mechelaar
Actually I'm pretty sure the shape of the CRX was thought up long before that. Oh I'd say a coupe thousand years. A wedge isn't really complicated.
And I wouldn't call a CRX really aerodynamic either, with that chopped off rear it is going to have a decent bit of turbulence and drag.
At least the Insight and Prius (and now this) have a sloped back that helps direct the air stream minimizing drag.
I agree with everyone else, look at racing. All the cars are practically identical. Nascar used to have fairly different models, Ford and Chevy mostly. But now the skin is almost identical from Ford, Chevy, Dodge, and Toyota....
Posted by Brian | September 4, 2008 11:38 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 23:38
@Brian
Being current owner of a '91 CRX SI, I disagree with you. 204k and I STILL get 38mpg highway, 35 mixed. And the CRX is friggin sexy. Why can't they use a shape very similar to it?
This car is just ugly. To me, it's the rear end and the body seem...out of proportion thick.
I like the regular Civic Hybrid...Same as non-Hybrid...it can be done.
Of course, I'm saying screw it, and I'm plopping down for a new Suburu STI for my play car, and I'll keep the Rex for commuter until it dies, if it ever does.
Posted by JoePDX | September 5, 2008 9:58 AM
Posted on September 5, 2008 09:58
@Brian
The basic shape is total CRX. It had a low nose with a sloping rear end just like Prius and this. Basically a reverse wing (in a very general sort of comparison) I think you are referring to a Civic hatchback of pre 1992 era.
Posted by mechelaar | September 5, 2008 11:07 AM
Posted on September 5, 2008 11:07
Prius even has the dinky little tinted window in the hatch just like CRX had.
Posted by mechelaar | September 5, 2008 11:10 AM
Posted on September 5, 2008 11:10
@mbw
what do you mean hybrids never took off in america? there are waiting lists at avery dealership.
Posted by Patrick | September 5, 2008 9:06 PM
Posted on September 5, 2008 21:06
what's the mpg going to be? If it's 60mpg+,this is the most beautiful car I've ever seen.
Posted by Patrick | September 6, 2008 1:07 PM
Posted on September 6, 2008 13:07
After a little netsearching the mpg will indeed be your desired 60 mpg.
Posted by GRIZZ | September 8, 2008 1:02 AM
Posted on September 8, 2008 01:02