Elistan

Summary - yeah, Honda's hybrid offerings are failures, but not for the reasons they think IMO.

I haven't done one recently, but all my previous quantitative analysis shows zero financial reason to purchase a hybrid over an efficient gasoline-only but otherwise similar vehicle. Therefore my conclusion is that purchasing a hybrid like the Prius or Insight is about personal principle and/or public image. And Toyota has that wrapped up with the Prius. IMO it doesn't matter how big or luxurious Honda makes the Insight - in the American mind, if you want to go hybrid you go Prius. (Especially since the Insight looks almost exactly like a Prius when you see one going down the road.) It would take a significant game-changing car for Honda to become the preeminent hybrid manufacturer in America.

rockville

I think part of the problem with the Insight was Honda wanted to have something Prius like. Unfortunatly for Honda their hybrid systems aren't very good. Honda's systems are hardly better than the belt starter mild hybrids GM was offering. Toyota, Ford and GM so far have actually exploited the real potential of a hybrid drive system.

So since Honda's drive line wasn't as efficient the best they could do was make the car smaller so that it could get mileage similar to the Prius. To bad the cost difference isn't enough to sway buyers from the larger Prius. At the same time I think the Fit probably does hurt sales. The Fit is a good little car that delivers basically the same practicality and nearly the same mileage. Toyota on the other hand doesn't have a good small car to really compete with the Prius. The Corolla might if it had a higher trim line and a hatchback... it doesn't. The Yaris is such a cheap and ugly thing that I can't imagine anyone actually deciding to drive one instead of a Prius.

Finally, the Prius really has become it's own icon. I'm not sure that even if Honda came up with a car that was 100% as good that it would ever sell as well. Simply put, Toyota got Hybrid and Prius to be synonymous.

Too bad the Prius got hit with an ugly stick for version 3.0.

sparrow

What Honda should have done was can all that other shyt. Make an hsv with a hybrid v8/10 producing 500hp and amg like tq. Price it between the gtr(90k) and the porsche turbo/audi r8 (120-140k) and shat on the sportscar market. If you want an Icon you would have had yourself the peyton manning of automobiles.

corey415

Statistical analysis of 2010 Insight and 2010 Prius indicates real world performance is much closer than you may think.

Using fuelly.com these were the numbers I got (both cars have around 70 samples each):

2010 Insight:
Average: 45 mpg
Median: 45 mpg
Std Deviation: 3.76 mpg

2010 Prius:
Average: 46.7 mpg
Median: 45 mpg
Std Deviation: 4.4 mpg

I threw out the the high and low outriggers for each sample set.

The Prius system cost more to manufacture and I presume is costlier to repair (not sure if this matters since both hybrid systems seem robust).

ace123

that probably would have worked. lose a ton of money on it, limit production to something like 2 units a year, and both people that get it get the car deal of the century while honda makes 100 commercials on it and spams the web with photoshoots and praises.

airgate

insightcentral.net

Also, in 3 yrs, the cost could be less considering more and MORE cars will adopt a hybrid format and batteries will be in more demand.

moogleii

All toyotas feel like that. They feel like cars designed for people who don't like driving, and therefore, all attempts were made to minimize the "pain." The steering anyway.

airgate

...well, I can't speak for _ALL_ Toyotas...but my Camry is NOT a driver's car. However, it makes for a good daily driver...

sparrow

notsureifsarcasm.jpg

Fanman

The Honda person is exactly correct. This is one of the main reasons I did not get the Insight. I was truly interested in this car when it forst came out. Personally I think it is better looking outside than the current Prius. Also the dash board layout is more sporty to me. But the rear seat is miniscule. I'm 5'9" & I can not sit in the front & have a person the same size sit in the back. @nd thing is that I think Honda has badly missed the mark with their hyrbids. They started off with a V6 hybrid that still got avg. mileage, then theyadopted their IMA, a mild hybrid system. Whoever is doing their market research should be shot. If they would have had their Accord hybrid with an I4 hybrid, they would have sold a million of them. And they need to dump their IMA & get a full hybrid system. What they fail to realize is that people interested in hybrids #1 priority is high fuel mileage, after that price is a distant 2nd. If the Insight would have been 3 inches longer, with a full hybrid system, but $2000 more I would be in an Insight right now, instead I'm driving a Prius around.