Automaker strives to catch rival Toyota with new gas-electric vehicle .
Honda will reveal a concept version of its new small hybrid vehicle, to be named Insight, at the 2008 Paris International Auto Show on Oct. 2.
Tokyo - Honda is bringing back the defunct Insight nameplate for a hybrid-only vehicle planned for the Japanese, European and North American markets early next year, as the automaker strives to play catch-up with rival Toyota in hybrids.
Toyota Motor Corp. has been wildly successful by promoting the Prius as a hybrid-only model — a move often praised as effective in highlighting its commitment to ecological technology.
But the industry view is still divided on devoting a model to a hybrid.
Nissan Motor Co. of Japan, which now buys its hybrid system from Toyota but is developing its own gas-electric technology, is less bullish about hybrid-only models. It has said it will instead likely offer a hybrid version of one of its standard gasoline engine vehicles.
Honda Motor Co. executives have repeatedly expressed their determination to come out with more hybrids.
Honda’s original Insight hybrid was introduced in 1999 but it was discontinued in 2006 after sluggish sales totaling a cumulative 17,000 worldwide.
Toyota, by contrast, has sold more than a million Prius cars over the past decade.
The reasons for the Insight’s failure to catch on are unclear, but relatively high pricing, its unusual styling and other reasons may be to blame. ?
Tokyo-based Honda, Japan’s No. 2 automaker, will show a “concept model” of the Insight at the Paris Motor Show next month, Honda said in a statement Thursday.
It will be a five-door hatchback compact, whose design is based on the sleek FCX Clarity, Honda’s fuel cell vehicle, according to Honda.
“The name Insight was chosen to denote Honda’s ’insight’ into a new era in which hybrid vehicles come within reach of most car buyers,” the company said.
參考譯文：
制造商努力追趕著他們最大的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手豐田公司的新一代的混合動(dòng)力油電汽車 。
本田公司將會(huì)在2008年10月2日的巴黎國(guó)際汽車展上推出他們的最新概念混合動(dòng)力車，命名為Insight。
本田東京將曾經(jīng)放棄了的名字Insight重新命名到這款純混合動(dòng)力車上，意味著本田將會(huì)努力的追趕豐田公司的混合動(dòng)力技術(shù)，該款車最早到明年將會(huì)在日本本土，歐洲和北美上市。
同時(shí)，豐田汽車公司通過推進(jìn)混合動(dòng)力車普瑞斯獲得了巨大的成功，這項(xiàng)舉措一直被評(píng)為對(duì)保護(hù)我們周圍的生態(tài)環(huán)境最有效的方法之一。
但是業(yè)內(nèi)人士對(duì)混合動(dòng)力的模式始終持有兩種不同的觀點(diǎn)。
日本尼桑汽車公司從豐田公司購(gòu)買了混合動(dòng)力系統(tǒng)同時(shí)也改進(jìn)了自己的油電技術(shù)，但是仍然比不上純混合動(dòng)力的模式。但是它或許能夠用混合動(dòng)力理念來替代現(xiàn)有的汽油發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)技術(shù)。
本田汽車公司執(zhí)行總裁已經(jīng)重復(fù)的明確他們將在未來推出更多混合動(dòng)力汽車的決心。
本田曾在1999年推出混合動(dòng)力Insight但是在2006年停產(chǎn)，由于銷售遲緩全球一共積壓了17，000臺(tái)。
但是與之形成鮮明對(duì)比的豐田公司卻在過去的十年里賣出了超過一百萬輛的普瑞斯混合動(dòng)力汽車。
Insight的失敗不是很清楚，但是可能是由于它高昂的價(jià)格和它奇異的外形還有其他一些被責(zé)備的原因。
本田東京，日本的第二大汽車制造商，將會(huì)在下個(gè)月的巴黎國(guó)際汽車展上展示他們?nèi)碌摹案拍钚汀?/SPAN>Insight ，本田公司在本周三聲明。
它將會(huì)是一款5門緊湊型汽車，基于FCX Clarity流線型的設(shè)計(jì)，燃料電池汽車，依照本田公司一貫的風(fēng)格。
“選擇Insight這個(gè)名字意味著本田的insight將會(huì)進(jìn)入一個(gè)新的時(shí)代，更多的混合動(dòng)力汽車將會(huì)沿伸到更多的汽車用戶中?！北咎锕菊f道。
（轉(zhuǎn)載）
