Bargain price hybrid in works at Honda?

**number001** · February 23rd, 2006 08:27 AM

Originally Posted by The Wall Street Journal Asia

Honda to Release World's First Hybrid Subcompact

Nikkei Net Interactive
February 22, 2006

TOKYO -- Honda Motor Co. plans to start selling the hybrid version of its Fit subcompact worldwide as early as fiscal 2007, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun learned Tuesday.

This vehicle stands to become the first hybrid to be priced at less than 2 million yen, as Honda apparently aims to sell it for around 1.4 million yen, about 200,000 yen more than the conventional Fit's price tag. Based on midsize and large vehicles, the hybrid cars currently on the market sell for at least 2 million yen.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s hybrid vehicles are priced about 500,000 yen higher than the gasoline-powered vehicles they are based on. Honda aims to reduce the price difference to less than half by developing a smaller motor and battery.

Honda plans to add the hybrid model when the Fit subcompact is due for full remodeling. The Fit series consists of models with engine displacements ranging between 1.3 and 1.5 liters. For the hybrid version, Honda intends to develop a 1-liter-class engine.

Aside from Honda and Toyota, Ford Motor Co. sells hybrid cars in North America. Toyota, which led the way with the launch of the Prius hybrid in 1997, now offers five hybrid models. Its sales of hybrid cars in 2005 totaled 235,000 units, or 3.2% of its entire vehicle sales.

Honda entered the market in 1999 by rolling out the Insight two-seater hybrid. It now sells the Insight and hybrid versions of the Civic and Accord. Aggregate sales of these three vehicles in 2005 came to 48,000 units, about 1.4% of Honda's overall car sales.

Launched in 2001, global sales of the Fit subcompact totaled 390,000 units in 2005, the third-highest tally among Honda vehicles, following the Accord's 680,000 units and the Civic's 590,000.

The Fit hybrid will likely offer a fuel economy comparable to the Insight's 36km per liter and the Toyota Prius' 35.5km per liter.

Driven by high gasoline prices, demand for hybrid cars has been growing worldwide. The U.S. is the biggest market, with the bulk of all global hybrid car sales made there. Much of the rest are sold in Japan and Europe.

Hybrid Jazz? I thought it was fuel efficient enough already by today's standards.

**Karding** · February 23rd, 2006 08:28 AM

USDM Hybrid Fit which will sell for only $12,000 and gets a whopping 80mpg

**gearspeed** · February 27th, 2006 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by Karding

80mpg

wow ang tipid ah..

wow...tapos magbababaan na presyo ng gas.

hindi lang babaan ng gas bagsakan pa...

**carlocaraddict** · February 23rd, 2006 08:32 AM

80mpg?! holy cow!!

**Autobeat** · February 23rd, 2006 09:38 AM

Wow, so around 34km/liter ito? Oks, so around Php1/km lang gas cost nito.

**baiskee** · February 23rd, 2006 09:43 AM

wow...tapos magbababaan na presyo ng gas.

**theveed** · February 23rd, 2006 12:40 PM

Edi ayos, once every 2 months ka nalang magpapafulltank hahaha, maka mas mataas pa oil change cost mo kesa fuel cost.

**orly_andico** · February 23rd, 2006 12:49 PM

that 80mpg figure is US EPA highway reading, which is at a constant 48mph with no aircon. :P
about 60mpg would be the realistic highway mileage, and Phil. city driving conditions about 40mpg.

so that's 25km/L highway and 17km/L city. both figures of which are readily achievable under realistic conditions by the Hyundai Matrix.

i'm on the alt.autos.toyota newsgroup, and the americans on the group can't figure out why anyone would pay big bucks for a Prius which gets 40-something mpg when a Tercel with a gas engine gets 35-something. Same case here, a difference of 200,000 yen is about $2000. would you buy a Honda Jazz for 900k to get the hybrid technology? potential shocker pa yan pag lumusong ka sa baha.

**Karding** · February 24th, 2006 02:33 AM

Originally Posted by orly_andico

that 80mpg figure is US EPA highway reading, which is at a constant 48mph with no aircon. :P
about 60mpg would be the realistic highway mileage, and Phil. city driving conditions about 40mpg.

so that's 25km/L highway and 17km/L city. both figures of which are readily achievable under realistic conditions by the Hyundai Matrix.

i'm on the alt.autos.toyota newsgroup, and the americans on the group can't figure out why anyone would pay big bucks for a Prius which gets 40-something mpg when a Tercel with a gas engine gets 35-something. Same case here, a difference of 200,000 yen is about $2000. would you buy a Honda Jazz for 900k to get the hybrid technology? potential shocker pa yan pag lumusong ka sa baha.

potential shocker nga

pero Im pretty sure my ground fault detection or else it would have never been approved by the NHTSA.

hindi ko din maintindihan kung bakit hindi ini-isip ng mga Hybrid buyers ang long term expenses or the big picture. A price difference of $5,000 for Prius is so ridiculous when you have to wait 8 years to recover the extra money spent compared to driving a Corolla.

the estimated MPG of each car is a ballpark figure indeed, could be a good or bad. For example, my 04 Civic was rated 37mpg highway. I drove from LA to San Diego with A/C on * cruising speed of 70mph, and the MPG I got? 42mpg ;) And it wasnt stock Civic, intake, header, exhaust, heavy 17's which could have made the fuel economy worst.

The Prius is a different story. Kaya hindi cost effective ang Prius compared to similar car like Corolla, dahil na din sa $5,000 difference nila. Whereas with Fit/Jazz, $1,700 lang ang difference compared to gas powered Fit/Jazz.

Another way to get the ROI quickly is if you drive more than the average of 12,000 miles. If you drive 12,000 a year then a gas powered is better for ROI.

30,000 miles a year = 1.5year to recover the price difference with annual savings of $1,071
12,000 miles a year = 3.9years to recover the price difference with annual savings of $428

OR...the price of gas reaches $5.00/gal

Monthly payment:
Hybrid Jazz/Fit = $228/mo x 60months
Gas Jazz/Fit = $200/mo x 60months

$5000 battery, save the $1000 yearly and by the 5th year, may pambili ka na hahahaa

its a good tool to decide if Hybrid is for you or not. depending on one's own assumption of the REAL mpg, the ROI could be quicker or slower.

If you are a road warrior, then Hybrid Jazz/Fit is probably a better way to commute.

**niky** · February 24th, 2006 02:32 PM

Originally Posted by Karding

If you are a road warrior, then Hybrid Jazz/Fit is probably a better way to commute.

Particularly since the Gas Jazz can get 32 mpg when driven like a maniac (on track, and on the highway at around 100 mph, combined), and over 40 mpg in regular traffic and commuting.

Since Honda is known for their "quick launch" IMA motor for the Accord, will the hybrid system give the Jazz/Fit a peppier launch, too? If it turns the 9-10 second 1.5 CVT into an 8 second car, it would likely be worth the extra 100,000 pesos over the regular 1.5, hybrid or not.

I've always thought the way Honda went with the Accord Hybrid was the way to go. Show people you're not sacrificing anything to fuel efficiency... that you can get both high performance and low fuel consumption in the same package, in a car that's not any different than the regular one.

Not like the Prius or Insight, where you sacrifice performance, practicality and comfort to the gods of the gas pump.