Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Restaurants get off to a quick start thanks to game-changing policies
High service charges on event ticket refunds call for further regulation
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
Honda aims to boost rollout of hybrid autos
By Chang-Ran Kim |
July 14, 2009, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
HONDA Motor Co's new chief executive said yesterday Japan's No. 2 auto maker would speed up the rollout of its hybrid cars as he aims to steer a nimble company that reacts more quickly to changing customer needs.
In his first public appearance after taking office last month, Takanobu Ito said Honda would launch the planned CR-Z hybrid sports car next February and a gasoline-electric Fit subcompact by the end of 2010, citing the growing importance buyers place on fuel economy and environmental considerations.
"I think everyone is going to go the way of hybrids," the 55-year-old former engineer told a media gathering at Honda's headquarters in Tokyo.
"Bringing hybrids quickly to customers will be a major focus of our activities," he said. "I want Honda to be a speedy company."
That would include accelerating the development of a new type of hybrid system with two electric motors to be mounted on medium to large-sized vehicles, he said, after Honda shelved its plan to use clean diesel engines to improve mileage on bigger models. Ito declined to say when the new hybrid system would be ready.
Virtually all engineers that had been part of Honda's Formula One team are now working on hybrid development, he said. Honda pulled out of F1 in December to avoid falling into the red.
Honda in February introduced the Insight hybrid, the first of a family of low-cost gasoline-electric cars that Ito's predecessor, Takeo Fukui, predicted would help hybrids account for one-tenth of car sales in the early part of next decade.
Insight sales soar
Sales of the Insight have outpaced Honda's monthly target of 5,000 units in Japan since its launch. To meet demand, Honda said it started building the model on a second line at its Suzuka factory in mid-June, taking daily production up slightly from the previous 700 units.
Shares of Honda ended up 0.6 percent at 2,370 yen (US$25.70), while those of other auto makers fell sharply due to concerns about a stronger yen. The Nikkei average lost 2.6 percent.
Sales of the Insight in the United States, however, have so far fallen short of Honda's targeted annual pace of 90,000 units - or just under half of its global sales goal of 200,000 units.
In his first public appearance after taking office last month, Takanobu Ito said Honda would launch the planned CR-Z hybrid sports car next February and a gasoline-electric Fit subcompact by the end of 2010, citing the growing importance buyers place on fuel economy and environmental considerations.
"I think everyone is going to go the way of hybrids," the 55-year-old former engineer told a media gathering at Honda's headquarters in Tokyo.
"Bringing hybrids quickly to customers will be a major focus of our activities," he said. "I want Honda to be a speedy company."
That would include accelerating the development of a new type of hybrid system with two electric motors to be mounted on medium to large-sized vehicles, he said, after Honda shelved its plan to use clean diesel engines to improve mileage on bigger models. Ito declined to say when the new hybrid system would be ready.
Virtually all engineers that had been part of Honda's Formula One team are now working on hybrid development, he said. Honda pulled out of F1 in December to avoid falling into the red.
Honda in February introduced the Insight hybrid, the first of a family of low-cost gasoline-electric cars that Ito's predecessor, Takeo Fukui, predicted would help hybrids account for one-tenth of car sales in the early part of next decade.
Insight sales soar
Sales of the Insight have outpaced Honda's monthly target of 5,000 units in Japan since its launch. To meet demand, Honda said it started building the model on a second line at its Suzuka factory in mid-June, taking daily production up slightly from the previous 700 units.
Shares of Honda ended up 0.6 percent at 2,370 yen (US$25.70), while those of other auto makers fell sharply due to concerns about a stronger yen. The Nikkei average lost 2.6 percent.
Sales of the Insight in the United States, however, have so far fallen short of Honda's targeted annual pace of 90,000 units - or just under half of its global sales goal of 200,000 units.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
