CAN an automobile be ahead of its time and yet be obsolete? As it heads into retirement, the Honda Insight certainly looks that way.

When it was introduced in 1999 as the first gasoline-electric hybrid sold in America in modern times, it was also the most fuel-efficient mass-produced car. Although production ended this summer, it remains the nation?s mileage champ after seven years.

Honda says the Insight will be replaced in two years with a more versatile, more advanced hybrid subcompact ? though not necessarily one that?s more fuel efficient.

The still-futuristic-looking Insight, with its distinctive 67-horsepower 3-cylinder gasoline engine and 14-horsepower electric assist motor, was never redesigned or updated. A continuously variable transmission and an air-conditioner were made available in the second model year; neither was offered on the original 2000 model because Honda wanted to keep weight down and fuel economy at a maximum.

The strategy worked, as the Insight earned an E.P.A. mileage estimate of 70 miles a gallon in highway driving; its city rating was 61 m.p.g. With air-conditioning, the rating dropped to 66/60, and to 57/56 with the variable transmission and air-conditioning.

But as the old disclaimer says, ?Your mileage may vary.? Over the years, Insight aficionados entertained themselves by trying to outdo one another in using the least gas to cover the same ground.

The Insight was first shown in late 1999, when gasoline averaged $1.39 a gallon; Honda challenged several automotive magazines to a fuel economy contest on a 195-mile trip from Columbus, Ohio, to Detroit.

The staff of Car and Driver magazine rigged up a hulking Ford Excursion with essentially a large box behind it, in which the Insight could be driven in a nearly drag-free aerodynamic environment.

The magazine?s technical editor, the late Don Schroeder, drove the Insight safely within the confines of this box, just inches behind the Excursion?s rear bumper. The magazine won the contest, achieving 121.7 m.p.g. at an average speed of 58 m.p.h.

Two years later, the same magazine (with different editors) reported disappointing mileage over a long-term (40,000 mile) test of an Insight with air-conditioning. That Insight averaged 48 m.p.g., but the editors still praised the car for its ?engineering brilliance? and stellar reliability.

A lively debate continues over the actual mileage that an Insight can attain in real-world driving. Most owners seem to get the advertised mileage, if not more, but a few complain that their fuel economy is disappointing.

The best generalization I can make is this: If you drive the car badly, you will get bad mileage. Jack-rabbit starts, choppy acceleration and over-revving the engine before shifting will result in poor economy ? as low as 18 m.p.g., in my experience. But judicious use of throttle, brakes and transmission can yield impressively higher results.

In a test of the departing 2006 model, equipped with a continuously variable transmission ? less fuel-efficient than the standard five-speed manual ? I drove from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on a summer?s day with temperatures topping 105 degrees. Traveling at speed on Interstate 15 and sections of historic Route 66, I experimented with different driving styles and with the air-conditioner on and off.

My route alternated between stretches at sea level and elevations around 4,000 feet. One problem was finding a free-flowing section of road, without constipated traffic, where I could cruise without interruption.

The duck-tailed Insight, which weighs a scant 1,850 pounds, seemed to float across the road like a hovercraft. Its suspension, tuned for minimum rolling resistance, followed every pavement imperfection. Its skinny, hard 14-inch tires ? designed for low rolling resistance and high mileage ? squirmed on grooved pavement. Road noise flooded the cabin.

But the Insight consumes less than a supermodel. In my best segment, running alone at about 55 m.p.h. into a strong headwind, I managed to achieve mileage of a little over 118 m.p.g. for 22 miles (according to the readout of its on-board computer, which seemed very accurate). But I had to abort my economy run when the traffic slowed.

The trick if there is one, is starting off conservatively and then maintaining a steady speed. Unlike the Toyota Prius, which can run on either the gas engine or electric motor, the Insight?s gas engine is always propelling the car, sometimes with an electric assist and sometimes without it. To get optimum mileage while cruising in a Prius, you need to coax it into electric-only mode by letting off slightly on the throttle; in the Insight, you accelerate as gently as possible and then carefully maintain a steady speed.

Driving partly in this manner, and partly more aggressively, I averaged nearly 70 m.p.h. on my Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas round trip ? about 600 miles ? on a single 10.6-gallon tank of regular unleaded. Many vehicles I?ve driven on this stretch over the years have been lucky to make it one way without refueling, even with tanks twice as large.

While the Insight was a mileage giant, it fell on its face in the marketplace. Instead of having to limit yearly sales to 6,500, as the company had originally planned, Honda has struggled some years to sell half that number. When the last few models remaining on dealer lots are gone, sometime this fall, Honda estimates that total global sales for the entire model run will probably amount to less than 18,000.

All right, it?s a tiny two-seater without a trunk, with sometimes curious handling and indifferent comfort. It requires more trade-offs than most Americans are willing to make. Its sticker prices of $19,330 to $21,530 are high for a subcompact. And larger, more versatile hybrid cars, like the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius, cost little more.

But if gasoline prices continue to balloon ? perhaps by the time they hit $4 or $5 a gallon ? it may dawn on more drivers in gas guzzlers that the Insight was ahead of its time.

By then, however, it will be gone.

Read more

Honda is dropping the Insight, a quirky two-seater that gets an estimated 66 miles a gallon with a manual transmission and can go 670 miles on a tank of gas, because it is preparing to introduce a new hybrid vehicle in 2009.

Honda also sells hybrid versions of its small Civic and midsize Accord.

Honda started selling the Insight in 1999, a few months before the Toyota Prius went on sale in the United States. Sales of all hybrids have risen sharply in recent years along with the price of gas.

Hybrid vehicle sales more than doubled last year, but still make up just over 1 percent of the market. Automakers sold about 200,000 in the United States last year. By contrast, they sold fewer than 8,000 in the year 2000.

The Insight, which is built low to the ground and has an aluminum body that some have likened to an upside-down bathtub, failed to achieve the popularity of the Prius, a four-door model with a more conventional, though slightly futuristic, appearance.

Honda sold 666 Insights last year, while sales of the Prius reached 107,897.

Analysts say Honda hopes the Insight’s replacement, which will be smaller and significantly less expensive than the Civic hybrid, will put it on a more equal footing with the Prius, which has become a favorite among environmentalists and Hollywood celebrities.

Although it reached the market first, the Insight “quickly got to be a rather forgotten car,” said Philip Reed, consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com, an automotive Web site that offers buying advice and other car information.

Mr. Reed said the Insight, which costs about $20,000, represented more of a statement about Honda’s commitment to fuel economy than a vehicle intended to have mass appeal.

In addition to its small interior, the Insight’s popularity was undoubtedly hindered by its exterior. Mr. Reed described the Insight, designed in a teardrop shape to minimize wind resistance, as “sort of Flash Gordonish ? what we thought the future was going to look like back in 1960.”

But Mark Mattke, a flooring salesman in Sparta, Wis., was drawn to the vehicle by its unique design as well as its size. He said he was sad it would no longer be sold. He bought a used Insight last fall and traded it in for a new one in March.

“I only needed it to seat one,” said Mr. Mattke, who also owns a Civic hybrid. “I needed one seat for me and a place to put my briefcase and some product samples.”

Mr. Mattke has filled up his Insight’s 10.6-gallon tank just five times in two months and keeps a spreadsheet showing he has saved $200 over his previous vehicle, a supercharged Chrysler PT Cruiser.

Honda officials refused to give details about the new hybrid, but said they wanted to focus on small vehicles before introducing larger gas-electric offerings. “Hybrid technology works best in smaller vehicles,” said John W. Mendel, senior vice president of American Honda’s auto operations.

Honda said it hoped to sell at least 100,000 a year of its new hybrid, which will be built in Japan.

The vehicle is part of Honda’s plan to increase its United States sales by 300,000 vehicles by 2009. To do so, it will build a new factory somewhere in the Midwest. It said in Tokyo on Wednesday that it would spend $400 million on the new plant, its sixth in North America.

A Honda spokesman, Jeffrey Smith, said the automaker was “in the final stages of securing a plant site” but would not reveal where it would be or when a decision might be announced.

Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky are considered the most likely choices.

Micheline Maynard contributed reporting for this article.

Read more

At a news conference Wednesday morning in Tokyo, Honda President Takeo Fakui said the company would also spend $639 million to build its first new plant in Japan since 1976, and $140 million on an engine plant in Canada.

Further, Honda said it would build a new family-size hybrid electric car that would go on sale in 2009, and hoped to sell 200,000 a year.

Honda did not disclose where it would build the American factory. It has two plants in Ohio, and one each in Ontario, Alabama and Mexico. The plant would make 200,000 vehicles a year, starting in 2008.

But even before its announcement, state officials lined up to vie for the factory, which could create thousands of jobs, both at the plant and at nearby suppliers and businesses.

Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, who has openly courted foreign investment to revive his Rust Belt state, confirmed that the state was actively trying to win the Honda factory. Meanwhile, Ohio officials said they, too, were talking to Honda about expanding its operations there.

Since January, Honda executives have dropped a number of hints that they were looking to expand their presence in North America, which eclipsed Japan several years ago as Honda’s biggest market.

Honda ranks second among Japanese auto companies in American sales, behind Toyota and ahead of Nissan.

The new American plant is expected to build the small Honda Civic, which the automaker already produces in East Liberty, Ohio, and the Fit, a subcompact that Honda sells in Japan and just offered for sale here.

Demand for the Civic has been strong since Honda introduced a new version last fall. Meanwhile, the Fit is reaching the market along with new small fuel-efficient cars from a number of companies, including Toyota, Nissan and Chrysler.

Governor Daniels has seized on foreign investment in an effort to offset job cuts by companies like General Motors and the Delphi Corporation. But he is not alone: the Tennessee Valley Authority, for example, has a number of plant sites ready for development. And Kentucky, where Toyota has a big factory complex in Georgetown, also would like to land another foreign auto plant and could push for the Honda investment.

For its part, Indiana is promoting plant sites in Decatur and Ripley Counties, which sit alongside Interstate 74 in the southeast corner of the state, between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. The Indiana locations would be roughly three hours from Honda’s operations in central Ohio, which include plants in East Liberty and Marysville, Ohio, where it also has a research and development center.

At a news conference in Indianapolis on Tuesday, Gov. Daniels said, “It is an enormously promising opportunity, and we are going to do all we can and are very hopeful.”

Honda’s move comes as Toyota is also looking for places to build at least two new plants ? one to produce vehicles, the other to build engines.

Last month, Toyota officials said they were considering four Southern states for the vehicle factory, although the company also may expand a factory that it is about to open in San Antonio.

Since it disclosed that it might build another plant, Toyota has been deluged with offers from governors in states that were not on its list, meaning the list of finalists may expand, people involved in Toyota’s deliberations said this week.

Toyota is still deciding whether and where it will build the engine plant, which Michigan’s Democratic governor, Jennifer M. Granholm, has vigorously pursued.

The governor, who is making her second visit to Japan in a year, is set to meet with Toyota officials on Wednesday to reiterate her state’s case for the factory.

Governor Daniels will make his own trip to Japan on June 17, although his schedule there has not yet been set, a spokeswoman said.

One drawback to the state’s bid may be that Toyota already has a strong presence in Indiana, where it produces minivans and pickups in Princeton.

In March, Toyota said it would invest in Subaru’s plant in Lafayette, Ind., in order to build an additional 100,000 Camry sedans a year.

Read more

Read more

Read more

Read more

Read more

Read more

Read more