Honda in Ireland has officially launched its Insight hybrid car here at a starting price of €22,378.
That puts it €3,500 cheaper than its most direct, though larger competitor Toyota Prius.
It is an A-rated car in tax terms and is available in two spec levels, SE and ES. The upper specification version is €996 extra and the importers are expecting that 60 percent of buyers will take this option.
The Insight is available in a 5-door variant only, with a CVT automatic transmission as standard. The engine is a 1.3 petrol, and the overall CO2 emissions are 101g/km.
Honda's hybrid Civic, a larger car, sold sell last year for the brand in Ireland, representing more than one in five Civic sales. A sporty new hybrid car, the CR-Z, will arrive here in the summer. A hybrid version of the Jazz is slated for 2011. The importers say that 16 percent of their total sales here will be hybrid in 2010, rising to 33 percent in 2014.
