January 2009
Honda has launched Insight, a low-emission, fuel-efficient, 5-door hatchback.
Honda first marketed the original Insight Hybrid in 1999 and has been working on the technology for almost two decades on the motivation to simply avoid waste.
One decade on, Honda is launching a new Insight that takes those core principles and extends them, allowing a customer to carry their family and luggage in an efficient, flexible and affordable vehicle.
The aim was to make petrol-electric technology available to more people by developing a family hybrid car that was more affordable.
Honda expects this car to have a significant impact on the industry. Because the Insight will be more affordable to more people, it makes cleaner car technology accessible to a completely new group of car buyers - opening the hybrid market to a new section of society to give those who have never considered buying a hybrid to try one for size.
It is one thing to develop an ultra-green product, that only the affluent can afford, but in its quest to be a company that society wants to exist, Honda challenged its engineers to build a hybrid for everyone.
The Insight is the culmination of over 20 years of hybrid development and more than 35 years of lower impact petrol engine development, which started with the CVCC engine in 1972.
That experience and technical knowledge has enabled Honda to develop the components and parts in our IMA system so they can be produced at a lower cost.
Honda has also been building production hybrids for a decade. In that time, a lot has been learnt about the production of electric motors and other key parts of the hybrid system. This understanding has led to improved production equipment and techniques, which will reduce production costs. And because the major hybrid components are produced in-house, this also helps to control overall costs.
"Our engineers have shown great tenacity and skill in reducing the cost of our IMA system to allow us to reduce the build costs of the Insight. By using so many components that are manufactured in-house, we have the ability in the market to continuously refine our processes in a way an outside supplier might not." Yasunari Seki, Insight Large Project Leader
The plan to produce and sell a much larger number of hybrid cars than before leads to economies of scale, and thus a lower final cost per unit. To achieve these numbers, a new electric motor production line has been added to the Suzuka factory, in Japan, which will double its per hour production capacity for IMA motors.
Honda aims to sell 200,000 Insights each year.
Global sales are planned at 200,000 units with the US taking 100,000 of these cars.
As CEO and President, Mr Fukui has already announced, hybrids will make up 10 per cent of Honda's total car sales by the middle of the next decade and to achieve this target, Honda will also launch a sporty hybrid (based on CR-Z) and a Jazz Hybrid over the next few years. With these four hybrid cars, Honda is targeting to sell over 500,000 hybrids globally per year.
The Insight will be produced at Honda's Suzuka factory in Japan where a new hybrid motor production line has been added to double the motor production capacity.
The Insight will go on sale in European Market from Spring 2009.
............................................................................
Read HONDA ARTICLES on TAXI Design Network
Want to see what 24 hours of creative awesomeness look like? Click here.
This news message is supported by The Creative Finder, an online platform for photographers, illustrators, designers, and art directors to promote their portfolios towards new clients and collaborators. Creatives who wish to sign up for an account can save 10% off annual fees with promo code 'designtaxi'.
