Honda Brings Back the Insight to fight the Prius

:welcome:

 

.

Honda introduces new hybrid Prius-fighter - Sep. 4, 2008

"The car will be officially unveiled at the Paris International Auto Show on Oct. 2." (note: Oct.2 is less than one month from today)
.
"Honda expects total hybrid sales of ... more than 10 percent of its worldwide annual sales, the company said."
.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Article: Honda's Got Prius Envy | Autopia from Wired.com
"with Honda planning to have the Insight in showrooms on April 22 -- Earth Day -- it's a safe bet we won't see many changes on the production model."
.
"Honda says the [new] Insight is lighter than the Civic"
.
-------------------------
"larger than Honda's Fit but smaller than Civic."
"Honda spokesman Sage Marie says the concept is "close" in appearance to the production model."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-09-04-honda-hybrid-insight_N.htm?csp=34

 

I have owned nothing but Toyota and Honda cars. Looks like Honda has another winner. I like how it looks, despite it looking a lot like the Prii. The unique spot in their line up seems like a good strategy to me. Got to love competition.

 

Remember that the original Insight was aluminum. The lower weight certainly accounts for some of its' very good mileage. The small size as well. Until it was discontinued it -securely- held the top spot on the EPA mileage list. When it was discontinued the Prius took over. Not quite so secure, but still there today. The current Civic Hybrid does quite well, very close to the Prius. On Greenhybrid.com owners (read enthusiasts) are getting 46 MPG US vs 48 MPG for enthusiast owners of the Prius. So while not -AT- Prius levels, it's pretty close. I'd say the IMA system works just fine, thankyou.

BTW, did Honda loose money on the original Insight? Is that why some people still think Toyota looses money on the Prius?

The new car address' one main complaint of the Civic Hybrid, the rear seats don't fold down.

From what I've seen, most people will buy by price unless there is some other "deal killer" (adjustable seats Toyota!). So my crystal ball says the new Insight will sell like hotcakes! Good luck getting one for the next few years. Still, as Toyota sells every Prius they can squeeze off the production line, I doubt it will seriously impact Prius sales. It may -improve- sales, as more people will want a small hybrid when they see twice as many on the road.

I like even more now the Priuschat name for this car - the "Hindsight". It can be taken several ways. The "H" for Honda with indsight tacked on. Hindsight for it looking like a Prius. I just think it's very funny how this works out.

 

Looks just like a Prius ... except with a Buick grill.

 

Oh yes they did, big time. But then again, it was never meant to be a mass produced platform and it served Honda mostly as a halo car, nothing more.

In fact, they lost money on their next two hybrids they made (HCH-1 and HAH) as well.

With the HCH-II in 2005 they tried to stop the bleeding by setting the break-even production volume at 38K units per year... and fortunately for them, they've been ramping up production capacity since 2006. The investor's reports show the production capacity is still very limited but cranking out 76K-80K units a year.

Nah, IIRC the claim that Toyota was losing money on the Prius was propagated by hybrid skeptics and Detroit insiders.... also driven by the feedback they got from the Detroit 2.5 when asked why they were not producing hybrids.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

its hard for someone to distinguish it from a prius.. they look just too alike...
honda always have their own design idea like u know its a honda even the car has no badge... but this one looks 90% like the prius.. i'm glad that honda will make a new hybrid but they should've made it look more "honda"...

 

Well, the new car is actually designed to look like the hydrogen car (FCX I think it is called - not available in Canada - or talked about). I'm betting the designs look alike because physical laws don't change between the Toyota plant and the Honda plant. They both came up with a design with very good aerodynamic characteristics, and because the physics is the same the designs look similar.

Oh, and the Prius IS NOT "ugly". It's beautiful.

Function=beauty!

 

Then again, since the HCH is smaller and slower than the Prius one would expect it to be better than the Prius, not almost as good

If Honda's new Hybrid gets ~45-50mpg, is similarly sized to the current Prius and prices under $20k I think they'll do quite well. It will target a different market than the up market heading Prius. A lot may depend on just what Toyota is planning to bring out to fill the hole opened up by making the Prius bigger. Something Corolla/Matrix sized thats <$20k and in the 50s or 60s would take a lot of wind out of Hondas sales. We know Toyota has something smaller in the wings but I don't think we have any idea what it is yet....

Rob

 

a hybrid Yaris ?

 

Toyota really got the jump on Honda with the Prius. They have also outdone the Accord with the Camry. But the Civic beats the Corolla. And I'll take their CR-V over the RAV4. Fun to see the world's two best auto companies competing.

 

Here on Oahu, all the honda dealers have a slimy position on placing dealer mark up $1-2,000 ontop of msrp. So for those like me interested in a Basic Prius, the Prius is a better deal. It's not much of a price difference after all.

 

Toyota's limitation appears to be battery production. (I guess this applies to others as well since their volumes are smaller.) Until Toyota can ramp up battery production they leave a huge opening for competing vehicles. And Toyota needs an honest six passenger wagon, as well as an econobox hybrid to round out the line up. Untill they get the volume up and fill the gaps there will be openings for anyone who wants to compete. The next year will be interesting as Toyota has been a bit lethargic in securing their market and thereby creating barriers to entry.

 

You know, if I bought one of these and I was walking back to my car in the parking lot and they were parked side-by-side, I'd be completely lost. I'd probably have to check the V.I.N. numbers to figure out which one was the Honda and which one was the Prius.
translation: "Wth have you been smoking? it's obvious which one is the Prius and which one is the Insight. A four year old could figure that out." (note: this is not a personal attack; it is only rhetoric)

 

Will the new Insight be eligible for the carpool stickers? That could seal the deal for many!

 

still looking at your pictures you can see that the car looks a lot like the prius

 

I'm just speculating, but it looks like to me that Toyota got caught up a bit in the big-profit vehicle racket- Sequoias, Tundras- like Detroit. They will catch up.

 

Honda is clearly attempting to replicate the look of the Prius. Anyone with eyes can see. Now let's see how the auto performs. That will be the real test.

... Brad

 

I thought I read that those stickers were discontinued, for ALL vehicles. No more will be made, and the current ones will run out in a few years.

 

toyota will have ability to produce 4x more hybrids than Honda in 2009 and that should go up to 5x in 2010.