UPDATE: Honda Insight As Fuel-Effective As Civic Hybrid
Thursday October 2nd, 2008 / 11h13
(Adds more comments by president, more background.) PARIS -(Dow Jones)- Honda Motor Co. (7267.TO) President Takeo Fukui said Thursday the company's new gasoline-electric hybrid will be as fuel-efficient as the Civic Hybrid. "We are developing this vehicle to achieve excellent fuel efficiency on par with Civic hybrid...but at a significantly reduced price," Fukui said at Paris auto show. The president told reporters after the press conference at the auto show that he hopes to set the price of the new hybrid around Y2.0 million, lower than around Y2.5 million or more currently set for existing hybrids offered by Honda and other car makers. The new hybrid Insight will be rolled out next spring in the U.S., Japan and Europe. Honda aims for combined annual sales of 200,000 vehicles in those three regions. Of the 200,000 vehicles projection, the company expects to sell 100,000 vehicles in the U.S. and another 100,000 in Europe and Japan. Fukui said the new hybrid will be equipped with a system that combines a lightweight and compact 1.3 liter engine with a motor. As for the company's global auto sales, Fukui said the company has had solid sales in markets such as Russia and China, while sales remain stagnant in markets like the U.S. Honda will provide its updated sales projection for this fiscal year through March when the company report earnings for the first half through September later this month, he said. The president also said the company will produce its Jazz compact in the U.K. The Japanese car maker currently produces the compact in Japan and China. -By Yoshio Takahashi, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2929; yoshio.takahashi@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/al?rnd=b0mLQ9gk7h7oHq8Uk5fR6Q%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
