While hybrid vehicles are quickly gaining popularity here in the U.S., European acceptance has been much slower — a trend that Honda plans to address. The Japanese automaker has targeted 500,000 hybrid sales by 2011, and will need support from the European market to attain that goal.
In order to win gain a stronger foothold in the European hybrid market, Honda has announced that it will first launch its upcoming CR-Z in Europe. Moreover, since the car is so important to Honda’s European operations, the automaker’s UK arm has a big say in the car’s final design. The CR-Z’s engineering and R&D are also being completed at Offenbach in Germany.
“Europe is a key market for this model,” Mark Turner, Honda ’s UK manager of product planning, told Automotive News Europe. Turner says the CR-Z should sticker for about 25,000 euros when it hits the market, with the up-level model topping out at about 28,000. Look for the CR-Z’s European launch in late 2009 or early 2010.
Turner also revealed that although the CR-Z is initially being designed as a hybrid, a gasoline version will be considered if demand is strong enough.
