Honda opening new hybrid factory in effort to overtake Toyota
 

Honda Motor Co. may begin to assemble hybrid vehicles at Honda’s new plant in Indiana, President Takeo Fukui told the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

The new factory, slated to begin operation in 2008 with annual output capacity of 200,000 units, will produce mainly small models, Fukui said. The Civic and the Fit may be made at the new plant, and Honda is considering building its small hybrid-only model—due out in 2009—there.

Source: http://www.autospies.com/news/Move-O...to-Town-11073/

Yes, Honda can overtake Toyota's hybrid sales!

I've read the new Greensburg, IN assembly line will build the next-generation Honda Fit first, then get into Honda Civic production. Given the chance that the unique small hybrid car will use the Fit platform but with a unique body design, Honda could build that car at Greensburg, too. :)

If they could keep price down on these hybrid, I'll buy one. I usually drive my cars until they are ready to retire and would hope that the Accord or Civic hybrids would go down in price. As for a small version hybrid, would it be safe with most of those vehicles out there being SUVs/Trucks or larger? As I recall, only the Nissan Versa got decent rating compared to other small size vehicles and at those standards, it only got a "good" rating. I wouldn't want to be in an accident and driving a compact.

I'm personally more interested in Honda's new diesels that are both urea-free and as clean as a gasoline engine. Better real world mileage, proven technology. Hybrid technology has always seemed too gimmicky.

Honda should have incorporated their IMA into their 4 cyl. Accord. But I too, am anxious to see the specs of their diesel engine.

Hybrid technology is still too new and not cost effective enough to justify to anyone but tree huggers. Show me a Civic hybrid automatic or CVT that is $15k that gets noticeably better fuel economy than the $14k Civic DX 5 speed manual and show me the batteries are good for 200k miles (as long as the rest of the car in other words) and then you will have a winner.

Hasn't the Insight and Pruis been out for a while? The Insight seems to be good since they have had no recalls.

The Insight sticker was about $20k and it's a 2 seater with basically no cargo area.

The Prius is about $25k (but good luck getting a dealer to sell it to you anywhere near MSRP as tree huggers are willing to pay over sticker for it).

The Accord hybrid cost more than a fully loaded EX V6 w/leather and NAV, and only offers a negligable increase in fuel economy.

Same for a Camry with hybrid synergy drive.

Same for any Lexus with HSD.

Don't get me wrong - they are all good cars and accomplished what they set out to do - basically a real world test bed for future technologies aimed at saving fuel.

My point is that there is no good reason to buy a hybrid other than to say "oh, look at me, I paid too much for a car that's not going to show a return on my investment untill I've driven over 100k miles. And I'm a greenie."

When the return on investment (i.e. savings in fuel cost over time over the exact model W/O hybrid) justifies paying slightly - slightly more than it's standard counterparts, that's when hybrid can be considered a legitimate technology.

Remember when PC's cost $3500 and you could do calculus long hand faster than your computer? Well, in hybrid technobabble, we are still in the days of 386 processors and 200 megabyte hard drives.

Wait untill the Pentiums come out. Don't waste your money.

This only really affects Insights from 2000-2002, but still completely destroys your argument.

NHTSA Recall History
2000-02: The headlight wire harness may overheat and cause the low beams to fail. Dealers will inspect and replace affected parts.

2001: Some passenger airbag modules were not properly welded and may not deploy in a crash.

Not recalls, but problems with the Insight:

Air conditioner: The air-conditioning suction hose can collapse internally causing poor A/C performance.

Audio system: Noise in the radio caused by the rear wiper is repaired with a new subharness wiring assembly.

Check-engine light: "Check Engine" light may glow on vehicles used where salt is used on the roads because the EVAP solenoid fails.

Cold-starting problems: The engine may not start in temperatures below 0 degrees (F) so the carmaker was replacing the engine control modules, but some customers living in warm climates may not have had the work done.

Hood/trunk: If the hood release is pulled up instead of straight out, it gets bent making hood release very difficult and replacement of the release necessary.

Paint/body: Using a bra can cause the paint to cloud, especially if it is installed wet or moisture gets between the bra and body.

I think Toyota and Honda should just quit selling hybrids and try to cell harmless fuel cell cars. Honda says they will cell Fuel Cells in 2018. (Source: Autospies)

At least Honda is already researching Fuel Cells and are to sell them soon.

Toyota wants to expand on the Pruis, but from many automotive websites, people do not like the Pruis. Its not fun to drive and has bad gas mileage (Source: Yahoo! Autos)