In the style of the Pentagon -- where generals prepare to fight the last war, rather than the next -- Honda launched a salvo at the Toyota Prius this week, only to discover the enemy had moved.
The car is the 2010 Honda Insight, a slope-nosed four-door hybrid hatchback that looks nearly identical to the Prius. Named after the original, aero-tadpole Insight (1999-2006), the new Insight aims to whittle away at Prius sales by offering hybrid-esque mileage (average 41 mpg) without the so-called hybrid premium (that is, the price difference between a comparable conventional car and a gas-electric hybrid).
The Insight will go on sale April 22 -- Earth Day -- and will be priced below the current Honda Civic hybrid ($23,650), the company promises.
Got that? Honda is offering a Prius-on-the-cheap that gets 41 mpg.
Alas, in a withering riposte to all the hard work that must have gone into the Insight, the Prius has just gotten massively better. This week at the Detroit auto show, Toyota is showing off its redesigned 2010 Prius, with an average fuel economy up 4 mpg to over 50 mpg. That's a marquee number that will let Prius keep its standing as the most fuel-efficient car sold in America.
The 2010 Prius is also bigger (0.6 inches longer), 1 second quicker to 60 mph (9.6 seconds), and chockablock with tech to set greenie tongues awag. Optional on the Prius is a roof-mounted solar array that generates enough watts to cool the cabin on hot days. Nifty.
So what confronts us now is a charming little game of chicken between the two Japanese carmakers. If Toyota sets the MSRP of the new Prius anywhere near its current base price -- $22,000 -- Honda will be obliged to set the Insight's price lower, maybe a lot lower. After all, the car's market position, its entire rationale, rests on the price/mpg matrix. The 41-mpg Insight has to be substantially cheaper than the 50-mpg Prius.
Who will name the price first? Who will blink? Cue the Ennio Morricone music.
Honda execs will tell you they aren't really targeting the Prius, the world's best-selling hybrid model since 1997. Heavens, no. The 2010 Insight merely seeks to exploit an opportunity in the market, where eco-conscious Gen Y'ers and budget-conscious Empty Nesters can't justify the expense of a hybrid car. The visual similarities between the Insight and Prius are purely the consequence of aerodynamics, plus safety and packaging considerations. The cars are products of the same algebraic modulus.
