Honda Cars : Honda sells 2,096 Insight hybrids in April, Prius sales drop 61.5% | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Consider the sleeping giant officially poked!
April U.S. auto sales numbers came out today, and Honda reports it sold 2,096 Honda Insights. That's a far cry from the 5,000 Insights that the company sold in Japan in the car's first week. Guess the pent-up demand for the Prius-alternative was stronger back home than here in the U.S. Or maybe the 478 Insights that were available at launch at the end of March were not enough and dampened enthusiasm? Whatever the reason, Honda expects big things from the little hybrid. Honda increased Insight production rates, and the company says it will be ready with 200,000 units a year, with half that expected to come to the U.S. One surprise: the Civic hybrid outsold the new Insight, 3,361 to 2,096.

The Accord hybrid (that was retired in 2007!) came in dead last with zero sales in April 2009. Overall, Honda's sales dropped 24.5 percent compared to April 2008.On the Toyota side of the fence, Prius sales for dropped 61.5 percent in April compared to April 2008. With a new model coming very soon, ToMoCo was still able to move 8,385 units last month. Overall, Toyota and Lexus sold 12,223 hybrid vehicles in April. We'll have a post on the domestic hybrids up in a bit. (UPDATE: Available here.)

Source;
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/05/01/honda-sells-2-096-insight-hybrids-in-april-prius-sales-drop-61/

Honda Cars : Honda explains the lack of moonroof and LED lights on the Insight | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

When the Honda Insight went from concept to production in late 2008, it stayed mostly true to what was first shown at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. However, as usual, there were a few detail changes, chiefly to the lighting. The concept version had really cool looking LED headlight clusters. However, when the production version appeared in Detroit this year, those were replaced by more conventional halogen units.

While the LEDs are efficient and would have saved some energy, Honda reminds people that the Insight was designed as the Hybrid for Everyone! A big part of making the Insight accessible was keeping the cost down and those LED light clusters remain very expensive. Thus they were left on the cutting room floor. Another feature that wasn't on the concept but does appear to be missed by some buyers is a moonroof. This option was sacrificed in the name of efficiency since it adds weight to the car in addition to cost. As such the engineers decided it wasn't worth eating into the efficiency.

Source;
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/04/08/honda-explains-the-lack-of-moonroof-and-led-lights-on-the-insi/