Paris 2010: Honda

By John LeBlanc

PARIS, France – You have to think Honda Canada would like to take a Mulligan on its current small hybrid strategy As has been duly noted, its Insight hybrid has been anything but a success. In fact, I always wondered why the Japanese automaker didn’t simply put the Insight’s drivetrain into its already well-received Fit.

Oh, but look, Honda has. A Fit hybrid just showed up here in Paris, under its Jazz foreign market name. And it looks like something Honda hasn’t had in a while: a winner. The Jazz Hybrid uses the same Insight gas-electric powerplant, but it costs a lot less. It arrives in Japanese showrooms in October with a price of about 1.6 million yen (or about $20,000) at the current exchange rates, considerably less than either the $23,900 Insight or $27,350 Civic Hybrid.

But don’t get too excited. Despite the hybrid Jazz getting better fuel economy than a Prius (3.33L/100km), at this point, Honda officials have yet to announce any plans to offer it to Americans. Does the question Why not? come to mind?

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