Thursday, February 5, 2009

Honda VP Wants to Price Insight Below $20,000

the 2010 Honda InsightLast September, Honda announced that they were bringing back the Insight -- or at least the Insight brand identity -- and in 2009 they we're going to come after the Prius with a vengeance. With the Insight's launch date set for Earth Day, April 22nd, the suits at Honda are still deliberating over pricing options for the US market. Obviously, in this down market, the lower the price, the better. That's why Honda's executive VP Koichi Kondo is campaigning to sell the Insight for less than $20K.

If Honda is really serious about knocking the Prius out of the #1 spot, or even gaining a significant foothold in the hybrid market, they know they've got to go painfully low on price. The first market to see the Insight will be Japan, and the price for the Japanese is already set at1.89 million yen ($21,140), so I don't know how they will manage to sell the Insight in the US for under 20K -- but they might have to. Although some would argue that the EPA underestimated the Insight's fuel economy, the EPA rated it 43mpg city/40mpg Highway. Compare that to the Prius' 48/45.

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