Honda introduced today the cheapest hybrid on market, starting at 1.89 million yen ($21,000) in Japan and under $20,000 in the U.S., hoping to turn around sluggish sales battered by the global downturn, according to AP. Even Honda Motor Co. officials acknowledged the timing was tough for the Insight gas-electric hybrid, which hits showrooms in the middle of a devastating slump, especially in the North American market that's the main target market. Also, oil prices have tumbled from their peak last July, detracting from the appeal of gas-sipping hybrids. Insight gets as much as 30 kilometers a liter, or 43 miles a gallon, according to Honda. «If the Insight had gone on sale a half year earlier, it would have been such a sure hot-seller,» Norio Ano, who oversees auto development at Honda, told The Associated Press. Hybrids tend to be more expensive than regular cars because they come packed with both a gasoline engine and an electric motor. Switching between the systems, depending on speed, boosts mileage.
