Honda announced that Japanese market sales of its Fit (Jazz) subcompact have soared past the 1.5 million-unit mark and global sales have drifted above 3.5 million, but buried at the bottom of the company's press release is something we find much more newsworthy. Yeah, the Fit has tallied at least one sale in each of 115 countries, but were any of those units a hybrid? Nope.

On October 8th, Honda will introduce its refreshed Fit in Japan. Okay, not that noteworthy, but that date also happens to mark the launch of the Honda Fit Hybrid. Now we're talking. The Japanese-market Fit Hybrid is rumored to start at ¥1.59 million ($19,156 U.S. at the current exchange rate), which amounts to a $4,700 premium over a gasoline-powered Fit in. Still, it's $3,500 less than the Insight and so the Fit Hybrid will become the cheapest gas-electric vehicle on the roads in Japan. The European introduction of the Fit Hybrid is scheduled for early 2011 and the U.S. debut is, um...never? Follow the jump for more on Honda's rollout plans for the new Fit (Jazz) models.



[Source: Honda]