Honda launches micro-site in advance of its new hybrids
Over at Honda's web-site the company has launched a page dedicated to its upcoming dedicated hybrid model. The gas electric hatchback will be going on sale early next year and we recently saw our first spy pics of the new car. In the text on the micro-site it appears that Honda will be emphasizing affordability for the new car which puts it in stark contrast to some other recent hybrids such as the Two-mode SUVs from GM, Chrysler and their German collaborators. Honda's IMA hybrid system has always been a lower cost system than the ones from Toyota and others, being more of a mild hybrid (although not as mild as GM belt-alternator-starter setup) than a strong hybrid. The new hybrid will include an even lighter less expensive development of IMA. With Toyota set to grab all the headlines with the new Prius in Detroit in January, look for Honda to use the LA Auto Show in November as launch pad for the new hybrid.
Gallery: Spy Shots: Honda Hybrid-only model
[Source: Honda]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
smitty2k55 11:51PM (7/24/2008)
not to b rude but this site has been up for a while
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Joseph 12:22PM (7/25/2008)
That website has been there for many months. Something strange is that Edmund's Inside Line reported the car would be coming in fall 2009, instead of early 2009. That's quite a difference. I'm assuming that must be a mistake because everywhere else (such as on this "micro-site") Honda says early 2009. I sure hope so.
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Joce03 5:00AM (7/25/2008)
From the spy shots, the Honda Hybrid looks a lot like the Prius... why can't car manufacturers put "new" tech in an attractive car?
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slk23 11:54AM (7/25/2008)
Aerodynamics place some limitations on the shape. As an airplane lover I see beauty in the shape of the Prius and the Clarity.
Lawrence Skarin 11:29AM (7/26/2008)
No disrespect intended, but wind tunnel tests dictate the shape of the car in the interest of minimizing air resistance. So it's not unusual that the general shapes of cars, like jet aircraft, tend to be similar.
Larry Skarin
Retired Engineering Prof
PROPHETJOHNJOHN 9:34AM (7/26/2008)
THAT LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE A HATCH BACK FORD FOCUS I CANT TELL THE DIFFERENCE....YOU PEOPLE ARE BEING FOOLED...ALL OF THESE FOREIGN JOBS ARE BEING CO MANUFACTURED BY AMERICAN AUTO MAKERS THESE DAYS...CANT TELL THE DIFFERENCE...YOU JUST ''THINK'' YOU ARE GETTING A FOREIGN MAKED CAR...THEY ARE INFACT BEING MADE FOR THE MOST PART ON OUR SOIL BY THE SAME PEOPLE THAT USED TO MAKE YOUR FORDS AND CHEVYS..THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS , WE ARE SENDING ALL THE PROFITS OVER SEAS... ITS A SELL OUT OF OUR OWN PEOPLE..
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steve 10:19AM (7/26/2008)
Who cares? It is a foreign owned company. Why would I buy one of these when the profits go to another country?
WAKE UP AMERICANS! SUPPORT YOUR COUNTRY OR LEAVE!
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PAUL 10:44AM (7/26/2008)
DUMB ASS MOST OF THESE VECHILES WILL BE PRODUCED HERE IN THE US HONDA AND TOYOTA MANUFACTURE A LOT HERE AND PROVIDE JOBS FOR AMERICANS AS WELL AS JAPANESE THEY ALSO ADVERTISE ALOT HERE AND SPEND A TON DOING IT WHICH HELPS OUR ECONOMY YOUR BEEF SHOULD BE WITH US MANUFACTURES WHICH JUST DONT SEEM TO BE ABLE TO COMPETE WITH THE JAPANESE WHEN IT COMES TO BUILDING GOOD RELIABLE FUEL EFFICENT CARS AND TRUCKS PEHAPS IF FORD AND GM WOULD MODEL THEMSELVES AFTER HONDA AND TOYOTA THEY WOULDNT HAVE THE JAPANESE TO BLAME AS THOSE COMPANYS SLAUGHTER THEM BEING SUPPORTIVE OF OUR HOME COMPANIES IS NOBLE BUT THEY MUST RETOOL RE THINK AND DELIVER BETTER PRODUCTS IF YOU WANT TO STAY ON TOP FORD IS 5 BUCKS A SHARE GM 13 LOWEST EVER SO MARKETS DICTATE PRICING AND FUEL EFFICENTCY RULE THE DAY TOYOTA AND HONDA HAVE THOSE MARKETS LOCKED UP UNTIL GM AND FORD COME FORWARD WITH BETTER PRODUCTS
Chris 1:27PM (7/26/2008)
Steve,
Are you even aware that the Chevy Aveo (affordable sub-compact) is built in Mexico.
Lou 1:53PM (7/26/2008)
I think you should correct your comment..It should read" Wake up American car makers and give us what we want".
Michael 11:24PM (7/27/2008)
LOOOOOOOUD NOOOOOIIIIISSSSEEESSS!
sensitive_man 10:24AM (7/26/2008)
johnjohn: Honda is not in partnership with any other auto mfg. They are pretty much the only ones. Sometimes the profits go the other way too...
As the larger US auto makers start to make smaller and better cars (as they are doing) perhaps the market will shift. But until the.. let me paraphrase the mantra of a certain political party.
...The market can sort itself out. It knows best...Let the best business win.
Right or wrong this is how our economy is structured at the moment.
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KM 11:04AM (7/26/2008)
One butt ugly car, we are being forced to drive wimpy girlie man cars. Kick the liberal environmental wackos out of the way. Nothing is safer than a large vehicle to be in during a crash. I know of a small child that burned alive in a rear end collision when the battery compartment caught fire in Hondas first hybrid. Watch the fatality rate on the highways rise as more people switch to smaller cars. Its just plain old physics. People are and will be dying just to satisfy political correctness. I guess our nations citizens are turning into a bunch of wimpy sissies. Our founders would be disgusted at how a lot of people have become mindless cowardly lemmings. They are not worthy of the sacrifices of the brave men and women have made from our founding. We have lost that independent pioneer spirit.
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Bob 11:21AM (7/26/2008)
I remember when the United States imposed Tariffs on that Japanese car you drive bucko. American car makers response was to raise their prices to match those of the imports you drive bucko. Car makers in America decided that if they can get that price for their inferior car they can too. So prices went up too. . But the problem is what did the American car makers do for the increase on price. Did they put it into new technology? I don't think so. It went in the pocket of every union member and high management person. The bean counter made a fortune and the American people paid the price again. Now people are arguing we shouldn't allow the Japanese cars onto the U S and keep all sales to U S cars and the U S workers will prosper. Bologna the only one to prosper will be the heads of the companies. Lets face it America we lost the war to profit. Government and the heads of the companies and stock holder win. Get over it. Your beef is not with the Honda car or Toyota car makers it is with the U S auto makers giving you less bang for your buck. As Americans we all the time looked for bells and whistles and not the economy. If we bought an economy car it was a stripped down version of some stupid looking car. Add the options you needed a bigger alternator to power the options and then the motor needed to be bigger to power the alternator and the Air conditioning and the power steering. Now the car needed to be bigger to carry the large motor and needed a bigger gas tank to supply fuel tot he now expansive motor. Then the government added smog controls. Now the big motor was robed of its power and fuel economy Detroit's answer bigger motors. more larger fuel tanks to supply the over smogged motor and over accessorized motors and cars. Make up your mind Economy or luxury. Well the Japanese figured out how to give you both. small car Luxury and big car power. Look at the American cars. same outside as for years and smaller buzzy motors.
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bob 11:41AM (7/26/2008)
Big DEAL.... honda put out a car in 94-95 that could put the prius to shame..
there is one in my driveway today simply rusting away, but my 94 civic VX still will get 60mpg on the interstate on its best day, and it now has over 300K on it... and the valve cover has never been off... CV joints and regular stuff only. unfortuantely, the body is failing but if I could find another I would simply transfer the drive train into it...
No batteries, no other junk, just a well designed vtec at 1.3L.. WITH AC!!! plenty of Pep... and 4 seats...
If tehy could do it in 94... wzup NOW???
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Karen 12:15PM (7/26/2008)
My husband drives a toyota highlander hybrid, and I drive a toyota sienna. We used to buy nothing but Ford's, but the moment they hit 70K miles we had nothing but problems with them, so we bought toyota and we have not had a single problem with them. While hybrids may be our only green choice at the moment, it's not good enough to me. I am sick and tired of being at the whims of foreign governments who are becoming mega rich on their oil while we kow tow to them and pay through the nose for their oil. It's time as a country and a people to declare our independence from oil companies BOTH foreign AND domestic. It's time for us to protest and say we want hydrogen vehicles that only produce water vapor, and we want them NOW. It's not enough they are renting them in California, it's time to create hydrogen fueling stations across the country, and make it a viable alternative, in fact, to make hydrogen cars the standard in this country. Not only would we reduce or eliminate our dependency on foreign oil, but it would create jobs in our own country. Also we need to be considering the health of our planet as a whole, with global warming and the effects thereof, it's surely time for a non polluting car, and time to develop and use hydrogen as a source of energy and get rid of the stone age mentality that oil is the only way to go. Pollution and global warming is destroying our ecosystems, causing whole animal groups to become extinct. We all all interdependent on each other, all things in nature work together to support one another and when you take out a leg of the chair so to speak, their is not enough support and it falls down. Point in fact, the bee colonly collapse disorder for one. Every one of six bites of food we take was pollinated by bees. if they become extinct, what will happen to our food supply, much less flowers, honey, pollinating crops, etc..If we keep polluting we are destroying the planet and in fact, destroying ourselves.
I am sick and tired of being dependent on foreign oil and paying ridiculous prices for gasoline. It's causing hardship on families who cannot pay their bills or their mortgages due to having to pay for gas to get to work, and paying such high prices that they have to choose between feeding their family or paying their mortgage/utility bills. It's time for humanity to rise up in one voice as a planet and DEMAND of industry to use alternative energy, such as hydrogen, and eliminate use of oil and it's polluting byproducts forever!!!
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Serge 11:23AM (7/28/2008)
Karen, I would welcome you to look deeper into your proposed hydrogen solution. Hydrogen is currently [and for foreseeable future will be] produced from natural gas, a fossil fuel. Battery-powered vehicles address all of the issues you brought up in much better way.
Thanks for you post.
Paul 12:48PM (7/26/2008)
How much does the CEO of GM make? He does not care how much gas cost he set for life.Put people in power who live pay check to pay check and see this great country turn around.
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Nathaniel 1:33PM (7/26/2008)
Km i know someone who was in an accident and died in a hummer. the car caught fire and he was locked in. one example doesn't prove that ALL large cars are safer than ALL small cars.
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RIcardo 10:58PM (7/27/2008)
Give credit to Honda and Toyota, just now GM is making noise about their Fuel Cell Eqiinox (great when I tested it). All this talk brings everything closer to the consumer, whom at the end will be the end user. www.pregunteaRicardo.com
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