Hybrid Wars? Honda Is Giving Its Dealers Insights Into the Prius

Hybrid Wars? Honda Is Giving Its Dealers Insights Into the Prius

The future drove by me the other day and I almost missed it.

I was leaving one of the look-alike office buildings clustered around the Hyatt hotel in Irvine, Calif., on Friday the 13th when it suddenly dawned on me that a steady stream of very quiet vehicles was rolling past.

In green-conscious Southern California it's not at all unusual to see a couple of Priuses pass by in quick succession. But half-a dozen of them? Immediately followed by a half dozen or so spanking new 2010 Honda Insights?

In the time it took me to drop my packages and flip open the cell phone to snap a picture the parade had passed me by, so no photo.

But I asked around and discovered that the parade of cars rolling by with just their electric motors humming was no coincidence.

Behind closed doors in one of the hotel's first-floor meeting rooms , Honda dealers were being schooled on the company's new hybrid, which officially goes on sale Tuesday.

And out on the street they were being schooled in the differences between the 2010 Insight  and the hybrid segment's sales leader, Toyota's Prius (which has its own debut, the all-new  2010 Prius, set for June).

Honda has said that it plans to highlight the Insight's proprietary technology and styling and not worry much about the Prius. But it seemed clear that Honda wanted to give its dealers an insight into both cars.

What's that line about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer?

Greg Johnson, Contributor

John O'Dell:  is an AutoObserver Senior Editor. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.