The Honda Insight
Honda revealed the name and the first official images of its new small hybrid vehicle today. The car will revive the name of the first hybrid gas-electric car introduced in the United States: the Honda Insight. "The original Honda Insight pioneered hybrid technology in the US and remains a symbol of Honda's commitment to innovative technology and fuel efficiency," said Takeo Fukui, Honda 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."
In September 2006, Honda stopped making the Honda Insight, a teardrop-shaped two-seater—widely perceived as impractical by consumers. Despite real-world fuel economy approaching 70 miles per gallon, the company sold fewer than 2,000 Insights in 2005, and fewer than 1,000 units through September of 2006.
The new Honda Insight, which goes on sale in the US in April, is expected to sell in relatively high quantities. Honda is targeting annual global sales of 200,000 units per year, with approximately 100,000 in North America. Honda is aiming for affordability with the new Insight, which is expected to sell for approximately $19,000—several thousand dollars below the Honda Civic Hybrid and Toyota Prius. At the same time, the new hybrid should match or exceed the fuel economy of those vehicles. The new Honda Insight will be unveiled at the 2008 Paris International Auto Show in early October.
The new Honda Insight will be more practical than the earlier Insight. It’s a five-door hatchback with ample room for five passengers. The aerodynamic design borrows elements from Honda’s FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle, and bears resemblance to the Toyota Prius’s iconic hatchback profile. Along with Honda’s Civic Hybrid, the new vehicle will be produced at an expanded hybrid vehicle production line at the Suzuka factory in Japan.
Design Puzzle for 2010 Honda Insight
It’s been five years since a hybrid-specific car was introduced to the market. That was the second-generation Toyota Prius. The Prius’s design—raking windshield, rounded roof line and swooping hatchback—has been emblazoned in the public consciousness as the very definition of what a hybrid is supposed to look like. That certainly presented a difficult design challenge for Honda, as it prepared to launch the 2010 Honda Insight.
Some of the questions Honda designers faced in creating the look and feel of the new hybrid: How do we achieve groundbreaking aerodynamics? How do we steal the Prius halo without stealing its design? How much do we borrow from the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle? How do we make it crystal clear that this new car is a hybrid? See the photos below and judge the results for yourself.
2010 Honda Insight Concept. Final version will be very similar.
Toyota Prius 
Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle 
The previous two-seat Honda Insight, now discontinued 2010 Honda Insight: Just the Beginning
Honda appears to be just warming up with its hybrid plans. “After our next hybrid comes out in 2009, we will then introduce another hybrid based on the CRZ Concept, and then later a Fit Hybrid,” said Chris Naughton, a Honda spokesperson. Naughton told HybridCars.com, “We have not said whether the Fit hybrid or the CRZ will come to the United States.”
The next wave of Honda hybrids—which have been somewhat speculative to this point—are quickly becoming reality. The re-emergence of Honda into the hybrid market with multiple vehicles is likely to intensify competition between all global automakers for gas-electric, all-electric, and other more efficient alternative vehicles.
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