Why not just make a Hybrid version of the Clarity ? Thats ready to go and that would def be good comp for the Prius
Once again the american car companies dont even matter lol
It’s basically a Honda Toyota fight
Lets just hope that Hyundai doesnt decide to get into the Hybrid game. I think they can give the Japanese a run for their money in that dept

then go buy one 1115 i dont think any of us care about your flame threads anymore. i would rather buy a dual mode bmw when it comes out than a silly little jap toy.

Its O.K. to admit you lost the competition. Dont just act like a grade schooler and say that didnt count it wasnt a real competition and now the real competition is starting.
Losers.

I’d rather buy a normal, but efficient, gasoline engined car . . . oh wait, I did.

The Insight was easily a better hybrid, but the Prius showed that it was more than straight up fuel economy – a hybrid has to be at least kinda practical and it has to carry an image. Now that Honda knows this I think the real competition IS about to start.

That being said, this Prius fighter is gonna be in the same difficult position as any iPod fighter -Prius is as synonymous with ‘hybrid’ as iPod is with ‘MP3 player’. You have to be better and you have to be slicker if you’re gonna change the game.

Honda was the first hybrid manufacturer, but it was in the day of $1/gallon gas and car was not that fuel efficient and drove poorly to boot. I don’t know if Prius drives better (I don’t think it is actually), but Toyota with its huge money chest could sustain failure of Prius I and marched on with current model. Uphill battle nothing new to Honda, they are perpetual underdog and the I don’t know what will happen to them as a company when they will loose that title (it is happening by the way).

CTS, you need to chill out. Get Korean massage, perhaps happy ending will soften your prejudice to Asians

First, the Clarity is only available in a very defined area of southern California and it can only be leased. It is still a ‘beta’ product and people leasing these are fully aware of this before they sign the bottom line.
I’d expect the new Honda Hybrid to borrow as much from the Clarity as possible, especially the body shape. The issue with the Clarity is that it’s built to house a fuelcell which has different packaging requirements than a gas-powered vehicle. If anyone can compete with Toyota, it’s Honda. They could start with the Insight, update its components, then stretch it to 4 doors, design it to look like the Clarity, price it below the Prius, and sell thousands.
And don’t count out the Volt. While better late than never, the more hybrid options on the road leads to competition which ultimately benefits the consumer. And don’t forget the next generation Prius is due soon as well…

Why Japanese manufacturers can’t make hybrids that don’t look retarded, I can’t figureout.

Agreed CA36. But if they didn’t look like Citroens from the 70’s how else would the masses know?

I think a lot of it has to do with aerodynamics as well. Apparently if the car’s ugly enough, even air will try to avoid it.

First they step into a big pile of V6 Accord hybrid crap.

Next they step into the Civic hybrid pile of crap.

Thank goodness they have money to burn…unlike Ford and GM.

“Until now, it has been an image-based competition, not a business-based competition.”

Eco-friendly image has and will always be the name of the game when it comes to hybrids. It is about LOOKING green, not being green. If you are so concerned with “saving the dying planet’ or whatever you tree-hugging ****s, and are willing to squeeze yourselves into a cheese-wedge shaped car to do it, than at least buy one that runs or an ALTERNATIVE FUEL.

Think about it: If today there were 500,000,000 cars in the world, and EVERY one of them was a hybrid, and then the new hybrids come and they improve mileage by 10%, but now there 680,000,000 cars in the world (assuming 60,000,000 new cars are on the road every year – actually 64 million but I am subtracting the oldest ones that get destroyed), YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING. You are emitting MORE pollutants that you were 3 years ago, and you are using MORE oil than before. We are still dependent on oil and we are still supposedly destroying the Earth. Oh, and consider the energy it takes to get a Prius from Japan to here..

The reason it was image based competition, because hybrid cars are very expensive to produce. Toyota does not make profit on Prius. What Honda is trying to get is some coins out of it R&D. They’ve been first in the field, but stepped back, I guess they managed technology from economic perspective where they can compete and make profit.
I would count Volt when it will be in showrooms and production. As i recall few years back Bill Ford was pleasing Sierra club announcing great strides in cleaning it’s act. It was load of bull****. I hope that word of another successful car salesman is not just a word (do you believe car salesman?)

Corvette has proven that you can make a design aerodynamic enough to get almost 30MPG out of a 6.0L pushrod V8 yet still look hot. If Honda and Toyota can’t do it with their hybrids, that says something about the true quality of their work.

I’m not sure this is such a great idea.. the Civic Hybrid isn’t exactly a sales dud, so why does Honda think a hybrid-only model will do better, particularly since the Civic Hybrid now has almost 5 years of brand equity? I’m guessing the only reason they are going this route is to give all Honda hybrid/fuel cell vehicles the current “jellybean” styling, and allow the next US Civic to dial back its controversial look for the next generation.

I test drove both the Prius and the Civic Hybrid. The problem with the Civic is that it’s too compromised. The rear seats don’t fold down and it has a reduced trunk. It’s based on the midrange LX instead of the nicer EX model. Furthermore its performance doesn’t match the Prius. For a little more money the Prius is a better value (and I’ve owned Hondas for the last 17 years). It would be great if Honda sold it for less than $20K but then they would lose money; at the current price it’s apparently breaking even.

I’ll wait for the clean diesels, like the German Built( as I understand..the disels will be built in Germany, gas engined version built in Mexico) Jetta this Summer… starting around 20K msrp.
Rumors of 47-50 MPG hwy, 37-40 city… Say Mid-40’s combined, for a decent sized car(Not some 13 ft long car, like some sub-compacts, to get 38-40, if they’re lucky, tops, hwy).
Isn’t Honda also bringing out a Diesel Accord in Summer of 08?

What happened to the CR-Z shown here? Rumors of 17-20K msrp.. sporty 3 door hatch/hybrid from Honda?

Global hybrid is a diesel hybrid. Honda will have NO problem selling this car. Honda already announced that this new Hybrid will not be offered in a gasoline version. Clean diesel and electric drive= best seller.

global_lightning, thanks for your insight (pun unintended, but it’s a good one!) into the compromises of hybridizing the Civic. In that light, I guess it makes sense for Honda to make a vehicle specifically for hybrid use as they have for the fuel-cell Clarity — but 200,000 units a year for an all-new nameplate seems lofty, even for Honda! But I still think if Honda plans to build another 2-seater hybrid (CR-Z concept) they should at least offer a non-hybrid Si version as well!

LJ: yes, a diesel accord will come out sometime in 09. I’m looking foward to it.

I think a lot of it has to do with aerodynamics as well. Apparently if the car’s ugly enough, even air will try to avoid it.

Comment by Brendino, posted on December26 at 2:42 pm
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holy crap that was hilarious, good one.