Honda Kills the Insight

[cwerdna]

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...1024/LATESTNEWS

"American Honda Motor Co. Inc. plans to kill the Insight hybrid this year.

The small, two-seat Insight, introduced in the United States in 1999, sold only 320 units in the first four months of this year. That compares with sales of 30,357 for the competing Toyota Prius, a family sedan embraced by environmentalists..."

[DaveG]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ May 18 2006, 12:01 AM) [snapback]257388[/snapback]</div>

"American Honda Motor Co. Inc. plans to kill the Insight hybrid this year.
[/b]

I have sort of mixed feelings about it - the Insight was certainly effective at providing excellent fuel economy, however I'm of the opinion that Honda made too many compromises in the design of the Insight to reach that goal. Too small and light, virtually no cargo space, only 2 seats, etc.

It was in all senses an urban commuter vehicle, but there's no way I'd ever buy one for myself knowing those limitations - while most of my commuting IS urban, I'm more than willing to pay more and lose a bit of milage to gain the additional versatility of the Prius. Not to mention that the Honda "integrated motor assist" is a cludge IMHO. The Prius's series/parallel hybrid system is far more elegant.

I was also never really fond of the inside - the Prius had the Insight beat for interior styling from day 1, even on the Classic.

Dave

[SomervillePrius]

It's not suprising or a big deal that they kill it. It was done to beat Toyota to the "first hybrid" and in my opinion it's more of an ultra fuel efficient car then a hybrid. The current gen prius is a lot more impressive as it doesn't make many compromises.

I hope Honda comes out with a new hybrid car but I feel that their technology is not as good as Toyota or Ford.

Long live the FE king! I guess next year Prius will be the most FE car on the market?

[john1701a]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SomervillePrius @ May 18 2006, 07:54 AM) [snapback]257420[/snapback]</div>

It was done to beat Toyota to the "first hybrid"[/b]

Insight wasn't first. But reporters here certainly didn't know it; I have a massive collection of articles with that incorrect claim. In reality, Prius had already been available in Japan for 2 years. And now that the American press has become aware of their error, Insight rarely gets much mention anymore.

Back when Honda started Insight sales, their product-line was nothing but small cars. A lot has changed since then. They now offer a SUV and large pickup. The aluminum body prevented Insight from ever being a cost-competitive solution anyway. It was an easy way to improve MPG that simply couldn't provide a profit. But the attention Honda got in return from only having to sell a small number of them made their original effort well worth it.

That's officially coming to an end in a few months when sales end. Insight is about to become a rather unique collector's item.

[j24816]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ May 18 2006, 06:37 AM) [snapback]257443[/snapback]</div>

That's officially coming to an end in a few months when sales end. Insight is about to become a rather unique collector's item.
[/b]

Yes. The Insight is a near perfect commuter/city car, great for getting 1 or 2 people to work and back over a short/moderate distance. I am not sure any such car has ever been successful in the US......can anybody think of a commuter car which has been successful? Why are these cars not successful?

Although I like the idea, I don't have the spare cash for a car dedicated to commuting and need a car that seats 4, preferrably 5 (think Prius), for family.

[SomervillePrius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(j24816 @ May 18 2006, 10:55 AM) [snapback]257476[/snapback]</div>

Yes. The Insight is a near perfect commuter/city car, great for getting 1 or 2 people to work and back over a short/moderate distance. I am not sure any such car has ever been successful in the US......can anybody think of a commuter car which has been successful? Why are these cars not successful?

Although I like the idea, I don't have the spare cash for a car dedicated to commuting and need a car that seats 4, preferrably 5 (think Prius), for family.
[/b]

I have been thinking about this myself. I like the prius and have a short city commute. But I also want to be able to sit 4 grown people reasonably from time to time so a four door is a must. In the end the Prius was much more attractive to me, as it felt like a real car more then that "kit car" feel you get from the Insight.

This will be the problem of pure EV cars. Too many buyer will feel they need a car that can go any distance. For me and my Fiancee we hope to add a Scion Xb EV car soon, and use my "dirty" prius for any long rides. Similar to what Darell is doing

In the end I think an EV car with a tiny, ultra-light ICE might be the solution. Use EV mode for day-to-day comute but the ICE will charge the batteries when needed on longer ride (though it might never really propel the car much).

A man can dream

[TonyPSchaefer]

can anybody think of a commuter car which has been successful?[/b]

Maybe not in the U.S. but aren't there itty bitty cars (like Smart and Minis) in other countries? Didn't Ken say that the Prius is considered a large car in Japan? Just the other day, I saw - I think it was - the US Secretary of Transportation saying flat-out that if we made smaller cars in the US there would be a substantial increase in traffic fatalities. With statements like that, we won't see small efficient cummuter cars for quite a while.

Check this:
http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti.../1029/OPINION03

[Charles Suitt]

<_< Hi Tony.... thanks for the link... VERRRRY INTERESTING.... (As Artie would say on LaughIn)

The position seems to be that fatalities would increase with increased sales of smaller vehicles. Extrapolated, doesn't this imply that we should *ALL* be driving "Sherman Tanks?" It was interesting to note that all but one North Texas congressperson drove big gas-guzzlers and more oil drilling was their answer to gasolene availability and prices. That one congressman drove a Prius, by the way.

I believe our government far too long has bowed to auto manufacturers and oil interests rather than acting in the best interests of us all. The requirements for fuel economy should have been arbitrarily increased many years ago. These, *FIVE YEAR* plans to gain only a few MPGs aren't really an appropriate response. The technology is available and proven. So quit babying the auto manufacturers and oil interests. GET TOUGH NOW! I find 0-60 MPH in 10.6 seconds is more than adequate... and that 45-55 MPG is most welcome.

[hobbit]

Most of the serious hypermilers that came to Tour de Sol took one
look at the rally route, with half of it being interstates and the
rest mid- to high-speed highways, and said "no way in a Prius". They
all showed up in Insights. It was like "insight week" out there,
including all the cool mods people have done. There were a few Prii
kicking around but NONE of them actually ran the rally route. Except
me, the day before, to find a checkpoint location and just see how
I would do. With the storms and wikkid headwinds on the interstate
return leg, I only pulled 63.something mpg for the loop. I was
hoping for better, but mother nature wasn't being kind that day.
.
I will remember the Insight as the "hacker's hybrid" -- even though
I've never actually driven one, I've heard a bunch of great stories
about how people have scoped out its control signals and built nifty
add-ons to intercept and change them in creative ways. A lot of the
lore that has grown up around the Insight has also helped me quite
a bit in understanding the Prius, even though they're very different.
.
_H*

[ghostofjk]

The bigger news in the article, to me, is Honda's stated intention to produce a new hybrid smaller---and, hopefully, less expensive---than the Civic Hybrid. If Honda succeeds in also producing its "breakthrough", leaner-burning, higher-MPG 4-cyl. engine to use in the new hybrid, it would almost certainly have MPG ratings higher than the Prius, though probably not as high as the Insight had.

Most importantly, it would be a true 4-passenger small-family/commuter car, hopefully accessible in price to the large segment of wannabe hybrid buyers who can't afford the Prius's $20K+ price tag. I've been saying for a few years now that THAT is a potential ground-breaking market niche to truly make hybrid technology accessible to "the masses".

Honda is long overdue to seriously up the ante in challenging Toyota's hybrids. I hope they do it.