Honda to revive the Insight as a Prius-fighter
On Thursday, Honda released the first official information and images of their Prius-killer concept and it's called, you guessed it, the Insight.
Honda introduced the first gas-electric hybrid for purchase with the
The Insight Concept carries over the styling cues of Honda's fuel cell vehicle, the FCX Clarity. It looks to us that Honda has been taking lessons from the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" school of thought, as the five-door, five-passenger hatchback configuration of the Insight is the same as that of the Prius. Squint your eyes and you'll see that the proportions from the a-pillar back are decidedly Prius-like. It's almost as though someone slapped the nose of the FCX Clarity onto Toyota's hybrid and called it a day.
Under the hood, the Insight will be powered by an evolution of Honda's Integrated Motor Assist hybrid technology, which powered the original Insight and the current
Honda will reveal a concept version of its new small hybrid vehicle at the 2008 Paris Motor Show and the production model is planned to go on sale in the U.S. next spring, the all-new purpose-built Insight will come to market at a price significantly below hybrids available today. Following the launch of the new Insight, Honda also plans to introduce another hybrid vehicle based on the CR-Z, first shown at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.