Hybrid Rivalry Heating Up between Toyota, Honda

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Competition between Toyota Motor Corp. <7203> and Honda Motor Co. <7267> in the hybrid vehicle market is intensifying, with Honda hoping to chip away at the dominance of Toyota's Prius by launching new models following the February release of its Insight.

The fierce competition between the two leading Japanese automakers
may lead to lower hybrid prices, in turn buoying the car segment.
The latest version of the Prius is so popular that would-be owners
who place orders now must wait until mid-March 2010 at the earliest for
delivery. On Tuesday, Toyota rolled out its first hybrid-only model under
the luxury Lexus marque.
Toyota Senior Managing Director Toshio Furutani says hybrid
vehicles make up more than half of Lexus' sales volume. Thanks to tax breaks
and other government incentives, hybrids have become mainstream vehicles
faster than expected, Furutani said.
Honda ramped up Insight production in mid-June at its Suzuka
factory in the central Japan prefecture of Mie.
In addition, the company plans to release both the CR-Z sports
hybrid and the Fit subcompact hybrid in 2010.
Honda President Takanobu Ito says that hybrid cars should be
reasonably priced, suggesting a Honda strategy of popularizing hybrids
through affordability. Its release of the most basic model of its Insight
hybrid for 1.89 million yen has helped reduce the prices of such vehicles.
Ito sees hybrid vehicles accounting for the vast majority of
automobiles 20 years from now.