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Honda to unveil a new hybrid at the next Paris Motor Show
By Yoann Besnard on 19 February 2008 | 
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Honda will try to go ahead of Toyota by unveiling a new hybrid model sold at a competitive price and expected to account for 200,000 units per year.
The Japanese carmaker has set the ambitious plan to take on the ubiquitous Toyota Prius and will go mainstream with a hybrid model smaller than the compact Civic. The future car is expected to cost between £12,000 and £15,000. The most affordable Prius starts at £17,777. The car is expected to offer low CO2 emissions likely to be below 100g/km. The Insight (pictured) achieved an impressive 80g/km.
With such a low price, Honda wants to sell 200,000 cars per year likely to cover the cost of this ambitious project. Half of the production would be sent to the US while Europe would get a quarter of the quota and the rest of the world would share the other 25%. The company wants to model to account for 10% of its total production.
The small hybrid model would be the first model of a family of hybrid vehicles to reach the market. The range will be topped by the future CR-Z Concept unveiled at the last Tokyo Motor Show. Honda wants between 400,000 and 500,000 hybrid car each year by 2011.