For any of you who ever drove and fell in love with a Honda CRX, these new photos of the Honda CR-Z will make you drool. According to Honda this is the near-production "concept" version of the CR-Z hybrid, due to hit the streets in 2010. Just like the CRX of old, the CR-Z looks fast and nimble.

The good folks with the Prius Team have shared some details in the PriusChat forums about the Prius I and a "price adjustment" on the Prius II-V models. The Prius I is the "base" model Prius that was announced to compete with the Honda Insight on price, while still offering the MPG and size of the Prius. Between January to May, Toyota probably was pretty worried about the Insight cramping the Prius' sales figures. So they came up with the idea of the Prius I, a "stripped, not equipped" version of the car.

It looks like the new Honda Insight is in for some hard times, sales-wise.  Honda sales figures for June show that Insight sales dropped 25% from 2,780 units in May to 2,079 units in June.  Over the same period the Prius' sales have risen from 10,091 units to 12,998.  It's hard not to point out that the Prius' increase from May to June was greater than the number of Insights sold in June. 

At this rate, it's going to be tough for Honda to reach their 90,000 sales goal by the end of the first model year. 

I received an invitation from Southeast Toyota and Jim Barkley Toyota for all Asheville area PriusChatters to attend a 2010 Prius & Honda Insight "Hands On" Workshop this Thursday, June 25th at 1:30pm.  Southeast Toyota will have a product trainer on hand to go over the features on the two cars and compare the technologies.

The Toyota Prius was Japan's best-selling car in May, while the Honda Insight dropped from 1st place to 3rd place behind the Honda Fit.

"I think a green car tax break and other incentives helped the sales performance (of the Prius) quite a bit," Akihiko Otsuka, chief engineer for the new Prius, told reporters in Toyota City, home to the automaker.

Shortages

Japan's Nikkei business daily is reporting that Honda has pushed up the schedule on the Fit Hybrid by a year and half - coming out in the Fall of 2010 instead of the Spring of 2012.  With a target price of $15,800, maybe this will finally be a "hybrid for everyone".  That is if Honda actually does something to the IMA system to bump MPGs by more than a measly 5 MPG over the current 33 MPG.

What would be a reasonable fuel economy rating that you would like to see on the 2011 Honda Fit Hybrid?

Reuters article:

Latest post on Green Car Congress via autobloggreen:

"The Nikkei reports that Toyota and Honda are both making estimated profits of about ¥300,000 (about US$3,100) each on every hybrid they sell, similar to what they make on small, gasoline-engined vehicles.

Takeo Fukui, Honda Motor Co. President, said in a report from the Automotive News that Honda has decided not to proceed with its plans to put clean diesel engines in its large cars. He cites the cost of clearing tough emissions regulations in the United States and Japan as the reason. The more cost-effective solution will be a modified or possibly new hybrid drive system which will instead become the future green drivetrain for big vehicles.

The Prius Chief Engineer Akihiko Otsuka himself confirmed with the Automotive News and Japan's Nikkei newspaper that a Yaris Hybrid is being developed and should be ready for the 2011 model year.

The new Toyota hybrid will be marketed to both Japan and the United States and will be equipped with a version of the Hybrid Synergy Drive system. Expect it to target the lower end of the market and be released with a target price lower than the Honda Insight's $20k tag.

I caught this last night during House or 24... something on Fox. Pretty nifty commercial. Looks like Honda is going right after the "active lifestyle" customer that the Prius currently attracts.  Here it is in YouTube "HQ" goodness.