The Low Down On Green Living
March 26th, 2009
Hybrid News: Honda Insight a Bargain, Toyota Keeping Existing Prius
Stumble it!
There are two important pieces of hybrid auto news today. First, according to Reuters, Honda Motors has announced the base price for their new Honda Insightat $19,800, which is 10% lower than the base Toyota Prius. Honda is positioning the five-door Insight as an economical alternative to the Prius, which has so far dominated the hybrid market. We welcome the competition and hope that this aggressive pricing will entice many buyers. But, is it just us or does the Insight look shockingly like the Prius?
Second, according to AP, Toyota Motors announced that it will continue to sell the current Prius even when the revamped version goes on sale in May. This is an unusual move, and is likely directly a response to the Honda Insight’s pricing. The 2009 Prius pricing starts at $22,000.
Let the hybrid wars begin!
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Comments
Imee
March 27th, 2009 at 1:24 am
I think the reason why Toyota’s keeping the existing Prius is because they have a totally new hybrid car in the works to faceoff with the Insight. It’ll be really interesting to see that out in the market.
Buy a 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid for $100 | Max Gladwell
March 28th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
[...] what your $100 could potentially buy–see stories from Treehugger, AutoBlog Green, Low Impact Living, and The Environmental [...]
Ira Eisenstein
March 31st, 2009 at 8:38 am
OK….
So the Honda Insight is a few dollars less than the Prius…
The OLD Prius still gets 10 MPG more than the NEW Insight.
Toyota has had 6 years to work the bugs out of this design.
Honda is just starting a new design. Who knows what bugs may be in it?
So why would I want to switch?
Ira
Nancy
March 31st, 2009 at 10:01 am
It’s not just you — it looks EXACTLY like a Prius.
Honda Certified Hybrids
May 5th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Yes both car do look exactly the same….but the tear drop design has one of the lowest drag coefficients out there. So why not copy what works. And yes the insight is cheaper but the Prius is still king when it comes to MPG.
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