As if the current Honda Fit is not gas-friendly enough, Honda announced that they will introduce a gas-electric hybrid version of the Fit subcompact by 2010.
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TOKYO — Honda’s fuel-sipping Fit will turn an even deeper shade of green with plans to launch a gasoline-electric hybrid version of the subcompact in the early 2010s.
The hybrid Fit, announced here today, will be the fourth hybrid from Honda Motor Co. by 2015, as the Japanese automaker chases rival Toyota in the low-emission car race.
Honda had planned to introduce a dedicated hybrid vehicle early next year, to challenge the Toyota Prius, followed by a sporty hybrid and a redesigned Civic hybrid.
The greener Fit’s arrival dispels Honda’s earlier skepticism about the viability of mounting pricey hybrid systems on small, low-priced cars that already get great mileage.
President Takeo Fukui has changed his tune — in time with changing market realities.
"The Fit has great fuel efficiency to begin with, and if you put in a hybrid, it’s going to get even better," Fukui said while announcing the car at a news conference. "So with crude oil prices going up this much, I think a Fit hybrid is now starting to make sense."
Hybrid hopes
The price difference between the hybrid Fit and regular Fit needs to be less than 200,000 yen ($2,000) in order for the hybrid to win customers, Fukui added.
The Fit should be released by 2015, Fukui said. That would put it on a timeline for the Fit’s next model makeover.
When all four hybrids hit the streets, Honda expects annual hybrid sales of 500,000 units. That includes 200,000 of the hybrid-only model debuting next year in Japan, North America and Europe.
Toyota, by contrast, is targeting annual hybrid sales of 1 million vehicles in the early 2010s, led by the Prius, which has so far thrashed the hybrid Civic.
"We’re not that interested in comparing ourselves with Toyota, but I don’t think we’re going to come in as second runner to them," Fukui pledged.
The "affordable" hybrid due in early 2009 is seen as Honda’s best challenge the Prius.
It will be a five-door, five passenger vehicle. But it won’t have next generation lithium-ion batteries. Fukui said lithium-ion technology still hasn’t overcome safety and cost hurdles.
The batteries are lighter and more powerful than the currently used nickel-metal hydride variety. And they have great potential for making more efficient hybrid vehicles. But concerns about the batteries overheating have kept them out of mass-produced cars.
More motors please
The new hybrid’s design is based on Honda’s wedge-shaped FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. That car will begin lease sales in the United States this July and in Japan in the fall.
Honda expects to lease several dozen FCX Clarities in the United States and Japan a year to reach a total of 200 units in the first three years, Fukui said.
To prepare for the ramped up production of hybrid vehicles, Honda will add a new motor production line at its Suzuka factory by year’s end. The addition will boost annual capacity to 250,000 motors, up from 70,000 motors today, Fukui said.
Source: Automotive News
