Honda to revive the Insight as a Prius-fighter

The Insight Concept represent's Honda's next attempt to dethrone the Toyota Prius.
(Credit: Honda)

• Honda introduced the first gas-electric hybrid for purchase with the Insight in 1999, then came Toyota's Prius and everyone forgot about Honda's little hybrid that could. We all knew that Honda was working on a larger Prius-fighting, dedicated hybrid vehicle, but Honda has denied that they'd be reviving the Insight moniker for this new vehicle. On Thursday, Honda released the first official information and images of their Prius-killer concept and it's called, you guessed it, the Insight.
• The Insight Concept carries over the styling cues of Honda's fuel cell vehicle, the FCX Clarity. It looks to us that Honda has been taking lessons from the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" school of thought, as the five-door, five-passenger hatchback configuration of the Insight is the same as that of the Prius. Squint your eyes and you'll see that the proportions from the a-pillar back are decidedly Prius-like. It's almost as though someone slapped the nose of the FCX Clarity onto Toyota's hybrid and called it a day.
• Originally posted at The Car Tech blog

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Crave.com

2007 Frankfurt auto show: Day two roundup

Mercedes' F700 is being used to demonstrate prototype cabin technology at Frankfurt
(Credit: CNET Networks)

The new models and concept cars just keep on coming at the 2007 Frankfurt auto show. One notable trend at this year's event is the willingness of luxury German automakers to finally embrace hybrid technology, with Audi, BMW, Porsche, and Mercedes all either announcing production hybrids or showing off advanced hybrid concepts. Meanwhile, the 2009 Jaguar XF shows that concept technology can make it off the auto show floor, as the latest Big Cat retains its futuristic shifter for production. On the subject of cabin gadgetry, automotive equipment manufacturer Siemens VDO showed off its next-generation in-car touch screen technology, among other things, while Mercedes used its F700 research vehicle to demonstrate a prototype of a new version of its COMAND interface. All this plus a badass million-dollar Lamborghini, a look at the clean diesel-hybrid vehicles of the future, and tons more from the show can be found over on our new Car Tech blog, right here. [...]

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Kevin Massy. CRAVE

2007 Frankfurt auto show: day one round-up

The Volkswagen up! debuted today in Frankfurt
(Credit: CNET Networks)

We've been trawling the floor on the first day of the Frankfurt auto show, and there have been plenty of new model launches and concept car unveilings to keep us busy. Mercedes Benz delivered on its promise to take the wraps off a fleet of new cars, including hybrid versions of its C300 wagon and its ML450 SUV, as well as its F700 research vehicle. Volkswagen and BMW also took advantage of being on their home turf, with the latter unveiling its partnership with Google for a local-search-enabled in-dash navigation system, and VW showing off its up! concept, an ultra-compact rear-engined mini-Golf with removable seats. Meanwhile, Fiat's own microcar, the 500, turned out not to be so micro in the flesh.


On the hybrid front, GM showed off its E-Flex-powered Opel Flextreme concept complete with built-in Segways, while Honda displayed a sport-tuned version of its Civic Hybrid that had earned its stripes racing in the 2007 Nurburgring race. Check out our continuing coverage of the show on the new CNET Car Tech blog, here. [...]

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Kevin Massy. CRAVE