Honda Goes Whole Hog For Hybrids

摘要

With a solid lineup of small cars and superflexible factories that can quickly shift from SUVs to subcompacts, Honda Motor has prospered lately. In June the Japanese automaker saw its sales jump by 14% even as its biggest rivals slumped. But Honda's satisfaction with its results is tempered by the knowledge that they might have been far better if the carmaker had gotten its hybrid strategy right. While the company was the first major automaker to offer a hybrid in the U.S.-the Insight, introduced in 1999-Honda's efforts have long been overshadowed by Toyota Motor's success with the Prius. Honda misread what customers wanted, acknowledges research and development chief Masaaki Kato. As a result, the company has sold just 277,000 hybrids to date, compared with Toyota's 1.5 million. Honda stopped making the two-seat Insight in 2006 and last year ditched an unpopular Accord hybrid. Today, the company sells only one hybrid model: a version of the Civic compact. "I must admit that Toyota was better with its strategy of focusing on the Prius and trying to build an environment-friendly image," he says.