Honda's Insight, billed as the cheapest gas-electric hybrid on the market, ranked as the top-selling vehicle in Japan for April - the first time a hybrid has clinched that spot. Honda Motor Co has pitched the Insight as an affordable hybrid though such vehicles have a bigger price tag than gasoline engine cars because they're packed with expensive green technology.
The Insight starts at 1.89 million yen ($19,000) in Japan, where it went on sale in February, and $19,800 in the US, where it is starting to arrive in showrooms. Honda sold 10,481 Insight cars in April in Japan, according to data released Monday by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. That marked the first time a hybrid model was Japan's monthly best-seller, excluding minicars limited to an engine size of up to 660 cubic centimeters, Honda said.
``The all-new Insight has been very well received by a wide range of customers due to its excellent environmental performance, easy-to-use packaging, light and comfortable driving and affordable pricing,' the Tokyo-based maker of the Accord sedan and Odyssey minivan said. But Honda will face tough competition from a revamped version of the world's top-selling hybrid, the Prius, from Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp.