New car sales may be off by 40 percent or more, but Honda isn’t having any problems moving its all-new Insight hybrid. Demand for the fuel-efficient hybrid is about three times what Honda expected in Japan, with U.S. demand proving to be just as strong.
Between February 6th and March 23rd, Honda racked up 21,000 Insight orders in Japan – far outpacing Honda’s goal of 5,000 sales per month. Since the Insight has only been on sale for about a week in the U.S. there is no hard data, but early indications look promising.
The Insight’s Suzuka, Japan factory is already cranking out 600 Insights a day, with about half of those earmarked for the U.S. market. North American production would help Honda keep up with demand here, but the Japanese automaker says Insight production outside of Japan is still a ways off.
“To expand overseas, we need to develop our human resources,” Hidetomo Mori, the Suzuka plant manager, told Automotive News. “Hardwarewise, it is simple to manufacture the hybrids anywhere. But right now we lack the necessary engineers.”
A strong supplier base is also holding Honda back from North American production. As it stands now, the vast majority of hybrid suppliers are in Japan, which makes Japanese production much more cost effect. And since the Insight is currently the lowest priced hybrid on the market, Honda is keeping a close eye on the bottom line.
However, with many programs now in place to foster U.S. hybrid production, the Insight could be built in the U.S. by the first part of next decade.
