Honda Insight to rival the Toyota Prius
For most drivers, hybrid cars have been viewed as an expensive alternative to petrol and diesel models, akin to a status symbol rather than an efficient, cleaner mode of transport.
The Insight is a 5-door hatchback with Honda's IMA hybrid system. It offers low-emission, fuel-efficient motoring in a practical, no-compromise package – at a lower price than any other hybrid on the market. The new Insight, and its price position, will make hybrid technology available to more people, including a completely new set of car buyers that would never have considered a hybrid before.
The Insight offers a practical family car with strong environmental credentials and plenty of financial benefits, including an outright purchase price to suit more pockets.
The entry level SE model will make up around 35 per cent of sales and will be priced to appeal directly to mass C-sector customers who may have been put off buying a hybrid previously because of the price tag. Compared to other hybrid models such as the Toyota Prius, which starts at £17,870, the SE offers value-for-money specification, including 15-inch alloy wheels, climate control air conditioning, electric folding door mirrors, front and rear electric windows, steering wheel audio controls and VSA.
The generously spec'd ES grade will be the best seller and includes 16-inch alloy wheels, auto lights and wipers, cruise control, front fog lights, heated front seats, leather steering wheel and gear knob, paddle shift, privacy glass and USB port over and above the SE grade. The ES-T model is equipped with DVD Satellite Navigation and Hands Free Technology (HFT).
Full pricing will be available nearer to the on-sale date in April.
In addition to its lower initial price, the Insight offers many running cost savings, including reduced road tax (£15), low company car tax, congestion charge exemption and fewer trips to the filling station. For customers driving a Ford Focus or Vauxhall Astra for instance, the savings start clocking up into hundreds of pounds a year.
For London commuters, city dwellers or customers who frequently drive into the centre for work, the hybrid offers exemption from the congestion charge and a saving of around £2,000 a year for commuters.
The Insight is designed to bring hybrid technology to a much wider audience. The majority of customers are expected be new-to-hybrid traditional C-sector customers who are looking to replace their conventional family car with a more efficient one. They may have deemed a hybrid too expensive previously, but will appreciate the Insight’s space, practicality and low running costs, as well as the outright purchase price.
For the same reason Honda expects some existing hybrid customers and owners of more conventional low CO2 models to move across into the Insight, making the most of the advancements in cost-reducing technologies.
The Insight will be an important corporate car, too, accounting for nearly 65 per cent of sales. User choosers, daily commuters and sole traders will all benefit from the Insight’s tax breaks, such as the lowest Benefit-In-Kind tax bracket of 10 per cent, reduced national insurance payments and increased write down allowance.
The fuel economy (combined) is 64.2mpg, while CO2 emissions are as low as 101g/km on SE models. ES models achieve 61.4mpg combined and 105g/km respectively.
Honda has concentrated on developing a car that will deliver better fuel economy in the real world, taking into account the actual conditions in which the car will be driven by our customers.
They have focussed on delivering fuel economy that customers can see and experience every day, whether driving with the heater and headlights on during the winter or with the stereo pumping and the air con hard at work in the heat of the summer.
The Insight is an affordable, efficient, frugal and low emission car, but there are styles and techniques of driving that can be employed to take even greater advantage of its hybrid technology. Called Eco- Assist, this driver coaching system developed for the Insight will train drivers, helping them achieve the best possible fuel economy.
Over the next few years Honda will also launch a sporty hybrid (based on the CR-Z), a Jazz Hybrid along with the Civic Hybrid. With these four hybrid cars, Honda expects to sell approximately 500,000 hybrids globally per year.
The Insight will go on sale in the UK from April, 2009.
| 
Print version | 
Email to a friend | 
View other articles
Related categories: Green cars and environment Hatchback car Honda Hybrid and electric car Toyota
