Honda Insight 2 concept (2009) first photos

By Tim Pollard

First Official Pictures

04 September 2008 14:00

The Honda Insight is back! Honda today unveils the Insight 2, a concept version of its new global hybrid. As extensively scooped by CAR Online, the new Insight is claimed to preview the world's cheapest petrol-electric hybrid car.

We'll see the new Honda Insight concept at the Paris motor show in October 2008 – and the real production car follows not soon after. Not that much will change; this show car looks production-ready to us...

Expect the roadgoing Insight to make its debut at the November 2008 Los Angeles motor show.

So how cheap will the new Honda Insight be?Honda says it 'will be priced significantly lower than any other hybrid car on the market, making petrol-electric technology accessible to more people.'

That's quite a claim. Insiders we've spoken to claim the production Honda Insight will be pitched around the £15,000 mark, making it £2000 less than the existing Honda Civic Hybrid. And yet Honda vows this is a profit-making model, not a loss-leader. That's one very impressive business model.

It's interesting they've picked the Insight name again!

Indeed. It recycles the badge of 1999's low-slung, futuristic coupe. The Insight was in fact the first production hybrid to be sold in Europe, although it lost the global race to Toyota's Prius.

Takeo Fukui, president and CEO of Honda. said: 'This new Insight will also break new ground by providing an affordable hybrid to an expanded number of customers craving great fuel economy and great value.'

Click 'Next' for more on the new Honda Insight 2

By Tim Pollard