Honda to Unveil Sub-$20,000 Prius Fighter in October at Paris Auto Show
By Scott Doggett August 6, 2008
Honda will pull the wraps off its new Toyota Prius fighter -- a compact five-door hatchback sedan hybrid (right)
priced from under $20,000 -- at the 2008 Paris Auto Show in early October.
As yet unnamed, the vehicle -- Honda's first dedicated hybrid since the Insight -- is known inside the company as the New Dedicated Hybrid Vehicle, or simply the "small hybrid." It will be christened at Paris with a new nameplate, although Honda insiders now dismiss earlier speculation that it might revive the Insight name.
The small hybrid is one of four new gas-electric models that Honda plans to roll out over the next four years, as part of a broad global strategy to boost hybrid sales to 500,000 units by 2012 -- about 10 percent of its total sales volume.
Also in the pipeline is a production version of the sporty CR-Z hybrid coupe that made its debut as a concept at last year's Tokyo show and is now due to arrive in early 2010; a replacement for the current Civic Hybrid, in late 2010; and a new hybrid edition of the subcompact Fit in 2012.
The small hybrid that's coming next year is intended to be an "entry level" model that should undercut the price of the Toyota Prius by thousands of dollars. The production version of the Honda hybrid is expected to be formally unveiled in January at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, when Toyota plans to introduce its next-generation 2010 Prius.
Go to Edmunds.com's Inside Line for more on Honda's unnamed but much-anticipated hybrid.
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