Plans for a big V8 powerplant that would develop a large amount of power have been delayed for an indefinite period of time, product planning manager John Watts said in an interview for Autonews. The new rear wheel drive platform had the same fate and is now waiting until the board decides when it will be the proper time for a new powerful model.
Parent company Honda has already announced plans to direct development efforts towards green models, no matter if we're talking about hybrids or more fuel efficient engines. Although it currently builds the Insight - which by the way is outsold by Toyota's Prius in most markets around the world, the Japanese manufacturer intends to develop new models, cheaper and more attractive for hybrid buyers.
To give you an idea of Honda Insight's sales performance, the company revised its expectations for the United States, bringing them down by a third to almost 60,000 units this year. Honda initially planned to deliver no less than 90,000 Insights in the country, hoping the poor market conditions would encourage Americans to purchase fuel efficient models.
Nevertheless, the Insight remains the most attractive hybrid in Japan, where it became in April the best selling model in the whole industry. "It is the first time in history for a hybrid model to be the industry's best selling vehicle in Japan for any monthly sales period," Honda said at that time praising its Insight hybrid.
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