Honda brought the first gas-electric hybrid to America when it launched the funky Insight in 1999, but it was soon overshadowed by the Toyota Prius and Honda’s been trying to catch up ever since.
After eight years playing second-fiddle, Honda has decided enough is enough.
Company president Takeo Fukui says Honda is investing heavily in hybrids and insists the race "has just begun." The technology’s first phase was all about cultivating a green image, Fukui says, clearly taking a swipe at Toyota. The next phase will emphasize making the vehicles more affordable and fuel efficient, he says, and Honda has two cars in the pipeline that he promises will challenge Toyota’s eco-supremacy.
"The real full-scale hybrid competition will start from now," Fukui says.
Fukui’s got his work cut out for him. The Prius is synonmous with hybrid technology, and 79 percent of the gas-electric vehicles that rolled out of American showrooms last month were Toyotas. Just one in 10 were Hondas, and the company has discontinued the Insight and Accord hybrid. Yet during his year-end speech to employees, Fukui predicted hybrids will account for 10 percent of Honda’s sales by 2010. To reach that goal, Honda will have to sell some 400,000 hybrids a year.
It may not be enough. Toyota says it wants to sell 1 million hybrids a year within the first half of the next decade.
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