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Honda has high hopes for new lower-cost hybrid
Traverse City, Michigan (AFP) Aug 13, 2008 Honda Motor expects a strong response to a lower-cost, five-door hybrid vehicle it will launch globally in April, a senior executive said Wednesday. "We're targeting sales of 100,000 units of this new vehicle in North America," said Dick Colliver, executive vice president in charge of sales and marketing for American Honda Motor Co. Honda will produce 200,000 units of the new hatchback in Japan. It will be launched on Earth Day, April 22. Colliver would not disclose the vehicle's anticipated fuel economy or price but said it would be smaller and less expensive than Honda's Civic hybrid and rival Toyota's top-selling Prius. But while Honda is expanding its production of hybrids, it considers fuel cell vehicles to be the cars of the future, Colliver said. "For the long term, we continue to see the development of fuel cell vehicles as the ultimate solution," Colliver told a conference sponsored by the Center for Automotive Research in Traverse City, Michigan. "While this technology is more than a decade away from the mass market, we know it works because we've been advancing it in the real world with real customers." The first all-new FCX Clarity - a four door sedan which gets the equivalent of 74 miles per gallon, or nearly three times the efficiency of a standard gasoline car - was delivered to a customer in Los Angeles several weeks ago. Honda has been testing fuel cell vehicles with US customers for more than three years. One of the biggest challenges to expanding the availability of hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicles is the lack of infrastructure to deliver the fuel to customers, Colliver told reporters following his presentation. "We know directionally if we can develop the infrastructure to support that car and we can get the volume out of it, it's a true direction we can go for new fuel efficiency as well as reducing greenhouse gasses," Colliver said. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
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GM to invest 445 mln dlrs in Thai auto plants
Rayong, Thailand (AFP) Aug 13, 2008General Motors will invest 445 million dollars to build a new diesel engine plant and to upgrade an existing assembly plant in Thailand, chief executive Rick Wagoner said Wednesday. |
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