Photo: Honda
Most people don’t know this, but Honda’s Insight has been around for almost as long as the Toyota Prius. Shown as a concept in 1997, the same year as the Prius, it went into production just two years later. However, it was never as popular as the Toyota hybrid, one reason being that it always felt gutless, first offered with a 1-liter engine, followed by a 1.3 for the second generation model.
That second-gen Insight, which went into active service in 2009, could be the last version. A report from Autoblog Green states that Honda (USA) hasn’t started working on the promotional material for the 2015 model year, which basically means come mid-to-late 2014, the Insight could be dead. This coincide’s with an average car’s lifecycle of about 5 to 6 years and is easily explained by developments in the hybrid car market.
In 1999 when it was launched, hybrids where revolutionary, but nowadays every other sedan has an electrified engine. There just isn’t the need for a bespoke hybrid model. We’ve heard similar stories from Toyota, who let slip that it cost more to make the next Prius 5 mpg more efficient than it did to do the same with the Corolla. However “Prius” is synonymous with hybrid and Toyota has the money and sales to keep it around.
So what does this mean for you if you’re a budget-minded buyer who wants a small Honda hybrid? Well, the Civic Hybrid is better than ever, plus we hear the sedan version of the new Fit, known globally as the Honda City Sedan, is coming to the US. The Fit or City should offer a world-class hybrid system designed in Japan and supposedly more efficient than Toyota’s Prius c. Ironically, the Insight is based on the City, so you could say it’s being killed off by a sister mode.
In 1999 when it was launched, hybrids where revolutionary, but nowadays every other sedan has an electrified engine. There just isn’t the need for a bespoke hybrid model. We’ve heard similar stories from Toyota, who let slip that it cost more to make the next Prius 5 mpg more efficient than it did to do the same with the Corolla. However “Prius” is synonymous with hybrid and Toyota has the money and sales to keep it around.
So what does this mean for you if you’re a budget-minded buyer who wants a small Honda hybrid? Well, the Civic Hybrid is better than ever, plus we hear the sedan version of the new Fit, known globally as the Honda City Sedan, is coming to the US. The Fit or City should offer a world-class hybrid system designed in Japan and supposedly more efficient than Toyota’s Prius c. Ironically, the Insight is based on the City, so you could say it’s being killed off by a sister mode.
Google News