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Hybrid Vehicles Honda Insight New Honda Insight 5-passenger Hatchback
209 messages, Last post on Nov 04, 2009 at 6:56 PM
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Let's talk about the new Insight, coming in April 2009 to the USA. Will it give the Prius a run for it's money? http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/FREE/809049997/1065 The Honda Insight is back, this time with room for three more passengers. Honda has revived the model name for the long-awaited dedicated hybrid vehicle tasked with taking on the Toyota Prius. And like its rival, it will be a five-door, five-passenger hatchback. A concept version of the new Insight will debut at the Paris motor show in October, the company said on Thursday. The car is expected to hit U.S. showrooms next April. The name is a carryover from Honda’s first crack at the hybrid segment. The first generation Insight was billed as the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle sold in the United States. But the first generation had just two seats and sold only 17,001 units from its launch in 1999 to 2006, when production ended. It was easily eclipsed by Toyota’s Prius, which has sold more than 1 million since 1997 and remains the world’s best selling hybrid vehicle. “The name Insight was chosen to denote Honda's ‘insight’ into a new era in which hybrid vehicles come within reach of most car buyers,” Honda Motor Co. said in its release. Honda has bigger ambitions for the second generation Insight. It is eyeing annual sales of 200,000 vehicles worldwide, with about half being sold in North America. |
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More info on the new Insight Honda has just released the first official photos of its eagerly-anticipated new dedicated hybrid car that will debut early in 2009. The car that until now had been referred to by Honda officials simply as the "Global Hybrid" will revive the popular Insight name from the company's first hybrid model. Although Honda is officially calling the car that will be shown in Paris next month a concept, these concepts tend to be extremely close to the final production version. Given the similarity to the spy photos we've seen already we shouldn't expect much to change before launch next year. The Insight does bear a strong resemblance to the larger FCX Clarity fuel cell car although as with most hybrids, the current Honda three bar grill design is actually a solid piece for optimized aerodynamics. Honda has already said that it has cut the cost of its IMA hybrid system in half for the Insight and the new Insight's price is expected to start in the neighborhood of $18,500. Honda is expecting about 200,000 world wide sales of the Insight with half of those going to the U.S |
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That thing looks like a current gen Prius!! I am not a big proponent of the IMA, because the engine has to run to propel the vehicle. I think Honda should come up with a dual mode hybrid. Plus, I think their CVT still used an actual belt, which is not as reliable (IMHO) as the Ford and Toyota eCVT planetary gear systems.
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Replying to: stevedebi (Sep 04, 2008 11:07 am) It would be nice for Honda to have an "electric only" mode somewhere in their line. Maybe they are saving that for a plug-in hybrid later? |
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| this is great, move over Toyota you've got company ... | |
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Just saw the new pictures of Honda Insight in Paris Auto show and I am excited. I am always a Honda fan and thinking how appropriate to name it after the Honda's first, innovative, but seems mostly enjoyed only by their die-hard loving owners, hybrid. I almost bought the Prius last year but decided to wait for the next generation thinking it would be a plug-in. I agree that with IMA, it is not possible to modify your Insight to a plug-in, like some people did to their Prius. But modification is not for me and since even Prius could not come up the plug-in version yet, the bottom line of MPG is most important for me to chose a car, at least for now. I still like to see the 2010 Prius when it comes out next January(?), but the $18,500 price of Insight sounds very attractive. A foot note about the dealer's mark-up: With its MSRP at $18,500 and expected high demand, I guess most of dealers will mark up the price of Insight for maybe $3000 or more, just like they did(and still doing) to Prius. We as consumer should have the solidarity to refuse to pay the mark up and walk away, be it Prius or Insight.
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Replying to: focusjc (Oct 05, 2008 8:49 pm) Looks nice. |
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For certain the new Insight is going to see a lot of ADM stickers attached to it's MSRP sticker. Honda has a winner with the Fit so up go the prices as they do with any good economy vehicle right now. The sad fact is even VW is charging big $$$ over sticker for their new diesels even worse if it's the wagon. I think Honda has a real winner with this new Insight but they need to stop dealers from price gouging. Unfortunately that's an impossible task. So the new Insight will sell over MSRP as long as they can get it. That's why I'm looking at other options.
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Replying to: tiff_c (Oct 15, 2008 12:08 pm)
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Replying to: strieby (Oct 23, 2008 12:25 pm) You could be right, but for now the dealers still can't get a Prius here at all. They just don't even bother to return phone calls unless you chase them down. I'm wavering on the fact that it's good to get a Prius. I wasn't impressed before and now with gas dropping it's less of an issue for me now. The high prices along with no discounts and super limited availability mean I'm looking elsewhere. Trading in/Selling my 2008 Honda Civic Si and getting anywhere near it's value is all but impossible. If my wife didn't have an issue with driving a manual we wouldn't have this problem. |
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