Green Options

I don’t normally get excited about hybrids. They’re pretty humdrum if you ask me, and I was into performance vehicles way before I was into alternative fuels. The Prius is boring, the Fusion is just a Fusion, and the Insight and downright ugly.

But Honda seems to have been listening, having announced that the aggressively styled CR-Z concept hatch will make it into production as a 2011 model for Japan and America. This is a hybrid car I could actually see myself driving.

In a just-announced revised product development plan, Honda says they will concentrate on hybrid and compact vehicles.

Honda will start selling the 2009 Insight in Japan this Spring with a price targeted under 2,000,000 yen ($22,325). Honda has previously announced the new Insight will go on sale in the US at a price starting under $18,500.

Additionally, a new sporty hybrid based on the CR-Z concept will be introduced in 2010, and Honda is considering mid- and large-size models in the hybrid line up.

Honda also will develop a small diesel engine and plans on introducing an electric motorcycle two years from now.