Wednesday 1st April 2009
Honda Hybrid Selling Fast
Demand spirals for 'most affordable' hybrid
So popular, it's scary
The new Honda Insight hybrid is selling three times faster than originally predicted, the company has announced.
Honda had initially planned to sell 200,000 Insights per year globally, but that number is likely to be a lot higher as the company has received over 20,000 orders in the US alone since the car went on sale there six weeks ago.
The Insight is currently the most affordable hybrid on sale, and will undercut the Toyota Prius by nearly £3k when it goes on sale in the UK this month. Huge demand for the Insight in Japan and the United States has caught Honda by surprise, and interest is only likely to increase when the car goes on sale in Europe.
Honda’s Suzuka factory is currently producing 600 Insights per day, and has had to recruited more staff to help speed up production.
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pokethepope
Original Poster
2,395 posts
57 months
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Honda’s Suzuka factory is currently producing 600 Insights per day, and has had to recruit more staff to help speed up production.
Thats refreshing news for the car industry, just need something similar to happen over here.
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Johnpidge
588 posts
58 months
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Still looks too "geeky" for me - why can't they make one that looks a bit more sexy!
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SkinnyBoy
4,280 posts
127 months
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Johnpidge said: Still looks too "geeky" for me - why can't they make one that looks a bit more sexy! Well Mugen are already on the case, behold the "Zero Lift" 
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varsas
3,102 posts
71 months
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Johnpidge said: Still looks too "geeky" for me - why can't they make one that looks a bit more sexy! I guess it's due to the need to package batteries; the general shape is dictated by aerodynamics (which is why the shape is the same as the prius). It's also a budget japanese car remember. All these conspire to make it look derivative and a bit dull.
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mark3man
221 posts
80 months
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.....and not good news for GM and Ford "battling valiantly" to get rid of all the SUVs and oversized pick-ups they tried to persuade people were the only way to travel.
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otolith
19,356 posts
73 months
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Johnpidge said: Still looks too "geeky" for me - why can't they make one that looks a bit more sexy! Because, I suspect, the people who buy hybrids include many who see a car as a functional device for A-B transport which shouldn't be sexy or fun in case it tempts them to drive it when they could have taken the pogo stick instead (or stayed in and beaten themselves with organic nettles).
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LuS1fer
28,497 posts
114 months
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mark3man said: .....and not good news for GM and Ford "battling valiantly" to get rid of all the SUVs and oversized pick-ups they tried to persuade people were the only way to travel. We'll have to wait and see what the Volt is like if it ever arrives. If this has the same "green" credentials as the Prius, it should certainly ensure the extinction of the planet. Some people are so damned gullible.
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Warick Hunt
172 posts
54 months
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When they do it with a V8 I might be interested...
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OJ
9,330 posts
97 months
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LuS1fer said: We'll have to wait and see what the Volt is like if it ever arrives. If this has the same "green" credentials as the Prius, it should certainly ensure the extinction of the planet. Some people are so damned gullible. The volt's a completely different beast. While the Prius and co are complicated and virtually pointless, the Volt actually has the capacity to give some seriously impressive economy and performance for a car of its size/weight/cost. Even at high speed where the Prius effectively becomes a fat saloon car with 200 kilos worth of pointlessness strapped to its arse
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Johnpidge
588 posts
58 months
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SkinnyBoy said: Johnpidge said: Still looks too "geeky" for me - why can't they make one that looks a bit more sexy! Well Mugen are already on the case, behold the "Zero Lift" Getting better - I think you lot know what I mean - put the body of something like a TVR Griffith on it and watch the queue form outside the showroom - I'll have mine in Black with black leather!
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Nickellarse
517 posts
58 months
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Hang on, this is another April fool isn't it!
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sad61t
348 posts
79 months
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OJ said: ... Even at high speed where the Prius effectively becomes a fat saloon car with 200 kilos worth of pointlessness strapped to its arse As 'high speed' effectively defined as 20mph by Whitehall officials, the Prius is actually quite green below this lethal limit. In a new government initiative, all the car plant workers are being reassigned to stitching red flags and perambulation training schemes to improve their well-being. This way we will be prepared, as a nation, to walk in front of any motorised vehicle that can afford to enter a town (or has a government waiver). The programme will limit urban speeds to under 4mph and dramatically cut traffic accidents, emissions and congestion. "It's a winner all around!", stated one government minister.
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robsti
4,530 posts
75 months
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The so called green bandwagon keeps on rolling,soon you wont be able to buy a performance petrol car without being attacked verbaly and possibly physicaly.when i read that this is the car that is bucking the trend then the ph`ers are doomed! long live the V8 .........but i doubt it.
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DSM2
3,624 posts
69 months
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Nickellarse said: Hang on, this is another April fool isn't it! Got to be. I had one of these for a long weekend, last year. Our local dealer trying to get us to put them on the fleet. Besides being a bit of a minger to look at, it was awful to drive, slow, and totally uninspiring. Worst thing was, on a steady 150 mile run, a roads and motorway at about 70/75 (not really comfortable any faster) it returned 45 mpg. My 3 series diesel is far better than that. What's the point? (If not an AF?)
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herewego
5,713 posts
82 months
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DSM2 said: Nickellarse said: Hang on, this is another April fool isn't it! Got to be. I had one of these for a long weekend, last year. Our local dealer trying to get us to put them on the fleet. Besides being a bit of a minger to look at, it was awful to drive, slow, and totally uninspiring. Worst thing was, on a steady 150 mile run, a roads and motorway at about 70/75 (not really comfortable any faster) it returned 45 mpg. My 3 series diesel is far better than that. What's the point? (If not an AF?) Isn't it the overall consumption that's important rather than one particular situation?
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G_T
7,411 posts
59 months
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DSM2 said: Nickellarse said: Hang on, this is another April fool isn't it! Got to be. I had one of these for a long weekend, last year. Our local dealer trying to get us to put them on the fleet. Besides being a bit of a minger to look at, it was awful to drive, slow, and totally uninspiring. Worst thing was, on a steady 150 mile run, a roads and motorway at about 70/75 (not really comfortable any faster) it returned 45 mpg. My 3 series diesel is far better than that. What's the point? (If not an AF?) Yes but mpg isn't everything when it comes to running cost is it? Diesel = 100.4p/l Petrol = 92.4p/l When you rope in servicing costs and the obvious fact that your 3 series diesel would cost considerably more new it really is a good economic option. Also DEP produced by diesel cars is an environmental toxin (to humans- I'm not a hippy) and is considered by many to be a main contributer to the higher levels of asthma and allergies present in children who live near roads. I'd honestly consider a second hand one. But only if I could keep the V8  .
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XitUp
7,690 posts
73 months
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LuS1fer said: We'll have to wait and see what the Volt is like if it ever arrives. If this has the same "green" credentials as the Prius, it should certainly ensure the extinction of the planet. Some people are so damned gullible. Why is that then? robsti said: The so called green bandwagon keeps on rolling,soon you wont be able to buy a performance petrol car without being attacked verbaly and possibly physicaly.when i read that this is the car that is bucking the trend then the ph`ers are doomed! long live the V8 .........but i doubt it.
Just like emissions testing killed off performance cars in the 70's? Stop being a cry baby. DSM2 said: Nickellarse said: Hang on, this is another April fool isn't it! Got to be. I had one of these for a long weekend, last year. Our local dealer trying to get us to put them on the fleet. Besides being a bit of a minger to look at, it was awful to drive, slow, and totally uninspiring. Worst thing was, on a steady 150 mile run, a roads and motorway at about 70/75 (not really comfortable any faster) it returned 45 mpg. My 3 series diesel is far better than that. What's the point? (If not an AF?) It's much cleaner than your diesel and will get better mpg around town. That's the point.
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otolith
19,356 posts
73 months
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Yep, not so clever out of town, but optimised for best economy in the place cars are most likely to be banned from in the near future, the urban environment. Horses for courses, I suppose.
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Fittster
14,924 posts
82 months
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So make a product people want and it sells. Maybe other car firms could take that approach rather than bleating for government handouts.
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Frothey
61 posts
54 months
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and just as Honda bring out an "improved" hybrid (which still hasn't got the performance(lol!) of the Pious), Toyota up spec theirs. Bigger car, goes to 140bhp, 70+ to the gallon and 89 g/km iirc. do the math's if you pay BIK and are bothered by it.....
like the the GM president said, by the time the Volt hits the market, Toyota would've had two more generations of Prius.
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