We're not suggesting that Honda is reactionary or anything, but right after the new good looking, clean and fun-to-drive
Toyota Prius is unveiled, here's the CR-Z sports hybrid - a good-looking, clean and presumably fun to drive hybrid. It's due to hit Japan in February 2010 and it's definitely coming to us in the UK, though Honda won't confirm exactly when until later this year. Honda accountants are probably doing the math as we speak.
We'll leave the sums to the Japanese and instead wildly speculate that Honda will pitch this as a 'premium' hybrid at around the same circa-£18k price point as the Prius. It won't look quite like the pictures you see here either - details like the blue headlamps, useless wing mirrors and show stand alloys will go - though it will maintain it's 'RX-8 meets Mercedes C-Class Sports Coupé' stance from the front.
And to further barge into Toyota's green monopoly, Honda has confirmed it will use the same hybrid system - that's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA), by the way - to power the Jazz, which will undercut the
Honda Insight's price significantly while offering Prius-rivalling CO
2 and economy figures, asit'll be lighter. Honda, as it happens, has added a third production line for the Insight because demand in Japan is so high.
So with confidence reaching the green sky, the maker has also announced that it's working on a new hybrid system to power a larger breed of cars. Little is known about that yet, but we can speculate now about the possibility of an Accord hybrid - good news for those who want a slightly left-field sub-premium post-mainstream saloon with excellent fuel economy, but who don't like diesel.
Mark Nichol - 13 Jul 2009