Back in May we heard about the Honda CR-Z but at that point it was still a concept. How, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito has taken the main stage to announce that the CR-Z coupe hybrid will in fact go on sale in Japan early year with the US and Europe getting it later that year.

There’s no telling what engine the CR-Z will use with Autoblog pointing towards the 1.3L engine featured in the Insight but we are sure to know when the Tokyo Motor Show rolls around.

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It seems that the inevitable has happened – energy efficient vehicles are taking over the world. Japan in particular, due to high gas prices (around $4.50 a gallon) and tax breaks on hybrid vehicles, has proven itself to be the most prominent hybrid vehicle market in the world.

According to AutoBlogGreen, in June alone, Toyota sold 22,292 Prius’ while Honda sold 8,782 Insights, both hybrid vehicles. This apparantly ousts America’s number of 26,205 hybrids sold in the same amount of time.

And, just as a fun fact, there is apparantly a 7-month waiting list for Toyota’s upcoming 2010 Prius.

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2010 Prius

Toyota is predicting that its new 2010 Prius hybrid will gather enough orders to outsell its rival, the Honda Insight hybrid in Japan. Scheduled to go on sale in Japan on Monday, the new Prius has reportedly already scored more than 75,000 sales. This information comes from Japan’s Nikkei business daily, and if it turns out to be accurate, the orders will represent a significant amount of sales for the car’s annual sales as last year, 73,000 units of the Prius were sold in Japan.

This is good news for Toyota, which is still preparing for an all-out price war with Honda’s Insight, the car which has already beaten Toyota’s Prius in Japanese sales for one month this year. The new Prius will reportedly still cost more than the Honda Insight, which sells for less than ¥2 million (approximately $21,000), but provides a larger engine and more standard features. Toyota is hoping to eventually sell 400,000 units of the new Prius around the world next year, while Honda’s sales have easily surpassed their own predicted sales forecasts.

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It was recently announced that popular automaker Honda has teamed up with C3, the people behind Lollapalooza and the Austin City Music Festival.

Honda will sponsor the event and in turn get direct acess to the thousands of music fans present at the events. Apparently, Honda will have a booth set up displaying their Insight Hybrid and even a raffle of a 2010 Insight.

To get in on the action you’ll have to attend either Lollapalooza from August 7th-9th in Chicago or the Austin Music Festival from October 2nd-4th in Austin. Be there, or don’t be green!

Read (KickingTires)

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Travel and road navigation is expected to get better as GPS Insight has announced that it is now capable of integrating with the Garmin Nuvi devices. With GPS Insight’s GPSI-4000, customers may now send destinations to several supported Garmin navigation devices, which then give drivers automatic, visual and audible turn-by-turn directions to their destination. Customers may also use this solution to send and receive messages, obtain driver login and status information, and wirelessly send a list of custom Points of Interest.

The new GPS Insight Navigation solution integrates tracking, navigation, and traditional MDT-like functionality. The GPSI-4000 and Garmin combination will increase overall driver and dispatch efficiency. Using simple choices on the web based GPS Insight dashboard, customers will now be able to wirelessly send one or more stops to a driver’s Garmin.

Clicking on a vehicle, landmark, or address will allow a user to dispatch a vehicle to several destinations each day. Dispatchers will see a list of vehicles that have been dispatched and their arrival status at a particular location. Messages, as well as automated speeding, idling, and odd-hours alerts may also be sent to a driver’s Garmin, which may help companies eliminate the need for cell phones.

GPS Insight will begin sales and support for this product beginning in mid-May 2009, and will continue to add functionality throughout 2009. GPS Insight’s Garmin Navigation Integration will first be demonstrated at NAFA’s I&E Expo in New Orleans, LA on April 26 and 27, 2009.

(Source) Press

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I sure love this commercial. It’s simple, it’s funny and it tells me this Honda hybrid might just be capable of everything despite being a hybrid. The new hybrid is the Insight. And just get a handful of Insigths, arrange them properly and turn them into an extra large LED screen. The future commercial is called “Let It Shine” for the obvious reasons. What do you think? Are you ready to drive your first hybrid?

via autoblog

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Rumor has it, Toyota was none too pleased with the recent announcement that the Honda Insight would be the cheapest hybrid on the market. So, they decided to do something about it.

Apparently, this new Prius from Toyota would feature a smaller engine than current-gen Prius’ and cost 20%-30% less.

With the early sucess of the Honda Insight this rumor seems completely plausible. I mean, Toyota would obviously want to preserve it’s title as the best selling hybrid automaker around, right?

Read (Autoblog)

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Honda Insight

Honda Motor Co. announced that it is aiming at pricing its new Honda Insight at under $20,000 for the American market, and that if sales exceed the stated goal of 100,000 in the first year, it will consider building the car in the United States. Sales of hybrid vehicles in the U.S. actually fell 9.9% in the U.S. from 2007 to 2008, mostly due to the severe credit crunch and mass layoffs of American workers in the fourth quarter.

Hybrids accounted for 315,761 of the total cars sold in America in 2008, which comes to right around 2.4% of the total. The Toyota Prius starts at $22,000 in the U.S. Honda hopes to gain an edge by undercutting that price, but it won’t be easy. In Japan, a new Honda Insight currently starts at about $23,365.00. The Japanese have been hurt by recent trends in currency exchange rates, which make their products less competitive price-wise in the U.S. than they once were. Building the Insight on American soil would help offset some of that, and would also bring welcome jobs to a flailing economy.

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