Honda Insight in Paris Motor Show
RIGHT NOW NihonCar has a team of dedicated journalists crawling over every booth at the Paris Motor Show. While we don’t expect any live pictures before tomorrow morning (Japan time), we’ll content ourselves with Honda’s official PR documents and pictures.
Here’s Honda’s (presumably) “Prius killer,” the Insight. With a design WAY cooler than the Prius, the Insight will, if correctly tuned by Honda, bring a new kind of car enthusiast to the hybrid world. Especially those who care as much about how they look in a car as being environmentally friendly.
Based on a theme of achieving dynamic performance through excellent aerodynamics, the exterior design of the Insight concept model combines excellent environmental performance and a fun to drive spirit. The compact Insight Concept measures 4,375 mm (172.2 in.) in length, 1,695 mm (66.7 in.) in width, and 1,425 mm (56.1 in.) in height, with specially designed, ultra-light aluminum wheels and 205/40 R18 tires. With a cockpit that enables the driver to experience the joy of driving, the interior of the Insight Concept provides an advanced and futuristic feeling that is possible only through a hybrid vehicle.
The all-new Insight, which will be developed based on this Insight Concept, will be a five-door, five-passenger hatchback equipped with Honda’s lightweight and compact hybrid system, with a 1.3-liter gasoline engine serving as the main power source, assisted by an electric motor. While achieving fuel economy on par with the Civic Hybrid, the new Insight will also achieve excellent utility and light and comfortable driving through the adoption of a new platform developed specifically for this vehicle. Honda will begin sales of the all-new Insight in Japan, Europe and North America in spring 2009, and projects annual global sales of 200,000 units.
In his speech at the Paris Motor Show, Honda Motor president & CEO Takeo Fukui said, “This new Insight will give more people the chance to get behind the wheel of a high quality hybrid vehicle only Honda can develop.”
The name Insight was chosen to denote that this new vehicle provides “insight” into a new era in which hybrid vehicles come within reach of most car buyers.
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