2010 Honda Insight

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I think this will be a very successful car for Honda in the US and Europe.
It looks like it shares the middle part of its body with the new Hydrogen Clarity. Which is fine to me. Whatever it takes to cut cost and pass it on the the consumers is OK. Unlike the “$600 lease only Clarity”, this will be a mass market car that will compete with the Prius.
But they are now saying it will start at around $18 500. And most loaded version might still be under $25 000.
This will undercut the new 2010 Prius by thousands.
Great news for us, consumers.

Even though am personally still not willing to drive a CVT driven hybrid car on a daily basis, I think this makes a lot of sense for tons of people.

Conversation 23 comments

  1. When the new model prius comes out it is supposed to be a fair bit cheaper. So in turn the honda might not be undercutting the prius at all.
    It could be the other way around.
    You never know.

  2. Any super aerodynamic shape will be similar.

    And I never heard the new Prius will be any cheaper.
    I hear it might be even more. And you know the dealers will charge thousands over MSRP for the 1 st year. Just like they did when the second generation came out…

    The Prius won’t start at $18 500, I can tell you that much.

  3. I love how Honda has a Pruis nearby so they can copy it circle for circle, square for square, triangle for triangle. 🙂

    No innovation on Honda’s part huh.

  4. I thought you had the wrong picture with the caption there. It looks too much like the Prius.

    Honda .. You could do better!!!!!

  5. Wow they are not hiding the fact that it looks like a Prius. They even brought a white Prius for comparison. Honda is running out of good idea!?

  6. Vince,

    Any confirmation on the name Insight? Hadn’t heard that Honda had given a name yet, just read GSH for Global Small Hybrid.

    The Prius rip off is a common uneducated opinion on the different car forums, Honda can date this shape back to the original Insight and even further back to the CR-X. Simply the most aerodynamic overall shape for an automobile, so yes, dedicated Hybrids designed for optimum fuel efficiency will look like similar to this.

  7. Everyone who is saying that it is a blatant copy of the Prius is an uneducated moron.

    This is the most aerodynamic shape that can possibly be used to cut drag and acheive a higher efficiency. Honda was first to use this shape in the first place. Did everyone forget how the Insight looked and it was well before the current generation Prius? Toyota does not hold a patent on the shape…

  8. Considering that used Priuses (Priuii?) are selling for more than new ones, the chances of finding the Honda Prius for the claimed price will be slim to none after the inevitable dealer markups.

  9. While it might be true that the tear drop shape is the most aerodynamic, but looking it side by side, both the Honda and the Prius look very identical. Since Prius came on the market first with this 4-door shape, it gets the bragging right. CRX and Insight also have the tear shape but they are two door. so does Porsche with its tear shape for the last 40 years. No one says Honda or Toyota is copying Porsche. It looks unique in its own way and so do CRX and the original Insight but this new Insight is a blatant rip-off!

    If you cannot see the resemblance then you are either blind, a Honda rep or one of those Honda ‘militant.’ 🙂

  10. Vince – Please remove our Honda photos.
    Thank you!

    Brenda Priddy

    Automedia

    Lehmann Photo-Syndicate

    Scoopy

    Carparazzi

  11. If you’ve gotten inside this gen Civic, theres a much more substantial interior. I think that will differentiate the Civic Hybrid from the Global. Price, power, luxury.

    I still would like to see the new City come to the US. It looks about the size of the Civic sedans c.a. 1980’s .

  12. For all your informations, the Prius design is a straight copy of Honda’s CRX. Except Toyota put a second door on it.

    Any one who knows cars knows that very well, not some fanboy trying to score some cheap shots at Honda.

    And Honda was the firs Company to ever mass produce the highbrade.

  13. Honda doesnt seem like the first company to mass produce the hybrid.
    Toyota must be the first company to mass produce it successfully.

  14. It seems odd that if honda was the pioneer of the hybrid, that their hybrid systems are inferior to that of the prius. ie old technology. Whereas the prius which in the current system hasnt changed since 2003 and is still the lastest technology.

  15. Obviously if the new insight is going to be way cheaper than the prius the insight will still be based on old technology more than likely.

  16. I parked next to an Insight yesterday, hoping they would call this new hybrid model the Insight, bringing back the name. Looks like they did!

    Whether it has 2 doors, 4 doors, or 6 doors, honda came up with the “shape” first. But things like that aren’t copyrighted….unless you are BMW against a Chinese manufacturer.

  17. With this much camo it’s hard to see the details that will make the difference between Insight and Prius.. but they are there, and the Honda will be much more similar to the Clarity than the Prius as far as DLO and fasciae styling. But it’s hard to dispute that the overall shape is very similar to the Prius.. and old Insight.. and CRX…

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