Honda revives Insight to challenge Prius

By John Reed in London
Published: September 4 2008 20:25

Honda is reviving the Insight nameplate for its new lower-priced hybrid car, due from next year to take on Toyota’s top-selling Prius.
Japan’s second-largest carmaker on Thursday unveiled a concept version of the car, which will have its premiere in Paris next month. Honda said it would be “significantly lower” in price than any other hybrid on the market.

The Prius commands a price premium over comparably sized cars, so for manufacturers seeking to build market share in hybrids, cost has become an issue.
Honda’s five-door car will go on sale in spring 2009, and the carmaker hopes to sell 200,000 Insights a year. It plans four hybrid models in all and predicts that hybrids will account for 10 per cent of its global sales by 2010.
Honda will make the car at its Suzuka factory south-west of Tokyo.
In resuscitating the Insight name, Honda is harkening back to its pioneering model launched in December 1999, which was soon outsold by the Prius.
Takeo Fukui, Honda’s chief executive, on Thursday described the original Insight as “the pioneer of hybrid technology in Europe” and “an iconic symbol of Honda’s environmental innovation”.
The car, which launched in the US just before the Prius, was designed as a two-seater because its battery was so large that it went across the rear seats.
The Prius, widely acknowledged in the industry as a masterstroke of marketing, soon outsold it.
Toyota has sold more than 1m of the cars worldwide since 1999, and is developing a plug-in version that will extend the car’s electric driving range.
Honda sold only 17,000 Insights worldwide, and discontinued the model in 2003. Honda also sold in the US a hybrid version of its Accord model, which it discontinued in 2007.
The hybrid version of its Civic model is a distant second to the Prius among global hybrid cars. Honda sold 52,000 of the cars last year.
Analysts say that the Prius has achieved market dominance in hybrids in part due to its unusual styling, which allowed drivers to telegraph their “green” credentials.
Honda’s new hybrid will also have a distinctive look, taking cues from its hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity launched last year.
Hybrids still account for a small proportion of global car sales but are seen as a key emerging technology, and have captured the imagination of carbuyers in the US.
Honda says its hybrid system will be smaller and less complicated than that in the Toyota Prius, with a thinner motor.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008