Honda Produces Lower-Cost Hybrid

Rob Spiegel, Contributing Editor -- Design News, July 14, 2008

Honda Motor Co. will soon launch a less expensive hybrid car to encourage more people around the world to adopt cleaner automotive technology and reduce car emissions. The newly designed model will be a compact five-door, five-passenger size with an exterior design that employs the concept of the FCX Clarity, Honda’s fuel cell car. The model will go on sale early next year and Honda expects to sell 200,000 units globally each year. With the addition of the new low-cost model, Honda hopes to reach 500,000 in annual sales of hybrids.

To keep the sale price down, Honda has significantly reduced production costs of the new model. The battery will be lighter and more compact, the motor will be thinner and Honda has repositioned the hybrid control unit and battery to a location under the cargo space.

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