 The hybrid scene has suddenly become hotter. This is Honda’s much-talked-about "Prius fighter," the Insight. Ten years on from the first vehicle to bear the name (that odd little two-seater), this is a proper five-door, five-seater model — just like the car it’s going up against.
The car pictured here is still officially a concept vehicle and will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show next month. But with production happening so soon, the streetable model shouldn’t differ that much, if at all.
Honda now realizes that people like their hybrids to look like hybrids, so the 2009 Insight has a distinct design (does that make it ego-friendly?), although the styling does echo the company’s flagship ‘green’ car, the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle. The Insight is said to be a tad smaller than the current Civic, but thanks to reductions in the size and weight of Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system — the high-tech part of the hybrid equation — the package still offers plenty of room.
There’s also another benefit to the IMA makeover. It’s cheaper. So Honda is promising that the Insight will cost no more than equivalent conventional models when it goes on sale next spring — effectively undercutting the Toyota Prius. The Prius currently starts at $22,000 and figures in the region of $18,500 have been bandied about for the Insight. If that’s the case, it would be the cheapest hybrid on the market. Honda is looking to sell 200,000 Insights a year, with the United States buying half that number.
—Colin Ryan
Photo: Honda
Will Aptera Motors Inc. be the latest electric car startup to throw its founder under the bus? The Carlsbad company -- which is taking $500 deposits on an as-yet-unreleased, three-wheel electric car that it says will get 120 miles on a charge and cost less than $30,000 -- said today it had hired a new chief executive, auto industry vet Paul Wilbur. With experience at Ford, Chrysler, sports car maker Saleen and major industry suppliers, Wilbur seems like a competent choice.
The problem is that the company already had a CEO, Steve Fambro, who founded the company five years ago. According to an Aptera spokesman, Fambro will become chief technical officer, since "it is a much better role for him to concentrate on vehicle development."
If this sounds a bit like last year's soap opera at Tesla Motors, we hear you. That company's founder, Martin Eberhard, stepped down from the CEO job just over a year ago to be "president of technology," a move Tesla said at the time would allow him to "focus on...the advancement of our core technologies." The company said that Eberhard had been planning on making the transition since early in the year and was on board with the changes.
Yet just four months later, Eberhard left company management completely, trailing plenty of fire and brimstone that he later distributed liberally on the Internet, including the message that he was forced out.
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A quick roundup of other automotive stories ...
Kia hopes to get hip with Soul
 In moves seen before with the Honda Element and the Scion xB, Kia Motors will debut its new Kia Soul at the Paris Motor Show in October. The crossover conjures images of Jolly Rancher candies both in color and shape (there are also photos of a lime green model) and should hit our shores in the spring. (Source: Kia Motors press release and Autoblog.com)
Honda may unveil the "Prius fighter" sooner than excepted
Autoblog reports that the concept version of the Japanese company's much-buzzed-about new ride may be unveiled Thursday. Rumored to be using Toyota's tires as a bull's-eye, the low-emission hybrid is said to be cheaper than the Prius and can seat four or five.
Consumer Reports' guide to buying a new car
Thinking of buying a new car in the end-of-summer sales? CR recently released a handy guide to driving off the lot without getting the run around. They break down employee pricing, incentive trends and other tricks of the trade.
Photo: Kia Motors
 General Motors to bring the Chevy Cruze to the U.S.
More GM news? Yep. Automotive News reports that the biggest U.S. carmaker will spend $500 million to replace the Chevy Cobalt -- which is being discontinued -- with this compact car. Debuting at this fall’s Paris Auto Show, the Cruze will hit European dealerships in March, with plans to make it to the U.S. by 2011. The new car is expected to get about 45 mpg/highway.
CarMax
CarMax, the car-shopping website, has added a feature that allows pump-pummeled buyers to search for vehicles based on fuel economy (users can specify either city or highway mileage). As of Thursday afternoon, the site was listing 122 used vehicles with highway fuel economy of more than 40 mpg.
 What’s the best low-cost small car?
Automobile Magazine breaks down five subcompacts and the ever-popular Toyota Prius based on base price, fuel economy, value depreciation and, of course, how they drive.
—Whitney Friedlander
[Top photo: Chevrolet Cruze, General Motors; middle: CarMax; bottom photo: Toyota Prius, Toyota]
Recycling exhaust
Biodiesel? Yawn. Reusing that waste is old news. Researchers at General Motors Corp. and at other companies are perfecting a plan to use car exhaust to save gas. This is all in response to an Energy Department challenge to improve fuel economy by 10%. This would save more than 100 million gallons of fuel per year in GM vehicles in the U.S., according to a story by the Associated Press.
Car production news
Chrysler unveils the 2009 PT Dream Cruiser Series 5 and revs up production of the 2009 Dodge Challenger. Plus, Toyota's new Highlander will be ready six months earlier than planned. Back over at General Motors, Cadillac considers replacing the DTS and STS with one model or just skipping out on large luxury cars altogether.
Getting the most from your mileage
Still worried about pain at the pump? CNN Money answers 11 questions of the mileage-obsessed.
— Whitney Friedlander
Photo (top): 2008 Chevrolet Suburban. Credit: General Motors
Photo (bottom): 2009 PT Cruiser. Credit: Chrysler
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 So far, the recent shrinkage (as George Costanza might say) of the oil price bubble hasn't brought much relief to buyers of another overpriced commodity — the Toyota Prius.
Data tracker J.D. Power & Associates reports that Priuses remained scarce on dealer lots during the first three weeks of July, even as gas prices began to inch down.
The gas-electric hybrids — which get the best fuel economy of any mass-produced vehicle sold in the U.S. — are staying on dealer lots for an average of five days. The average "time to turn" for all vehicles sold in the U.S. is more like 60 days, meaning that Priuses are basically arriving in showrooms already spoken for.
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Ahhh, that lovely ‘new car’ smell we always covet. Take a deep breath, get a good noseful. Ever wondered why new cars smell the way they do?
That’ll be a cheeky cocktail of bromine, chlorine, lead, arsenic, mercury and other such wonderful chemicals and elements linked with allergies, birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity and cancer.
For the second year running, HealthyCar.org has made a study of toxic substances in over 200 new cars (2008 and 2009 models) and 60 children’s car seats. The worst offender on wheels is the Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT. Perhaps we should be thankful that this convertible isn’t a family car. The goody four-tires of the bunch is the Acura RDX (an SUV -- how inconvenient, given the current climate).
Of course, these chemicals don’t get there by accident. For example, bromine is used as a flame retardant. And while this latest study finds that “far too many companies have not yet phased out ... dangerous chemicals,” the good news is that several car makers have cleaned up their acts somewhat from last year, with General Motors showing the most improvement out of the Big Three. The average child seat is also 28% less toxic than 12 months ago.
The tests were carried out using a portable X-ray fluorescence device that can determine an item’s chemical composition within 60 seconds, which is kinda cool. But some people might surprised by HealthyCar.org’s categorization. According to the study, the BMW M5 is a luxury sedan, while the Toyota Solara is described as ‘sporty’. And the Mercedes-Benz E350 is a small car?
-- Colin Ryan
Photo: Spyder interior. Credit: Mitsubishi
 Ford Motor Co., which currently sells one trim level of one model that requires premium fuel, is now bragging in a press releases that not one of the cars and trucks in its 2009 lineup (except that one trim level car) will require premium fuel.
That's right, a car maker that essentially does not make and has not made something is pleased to announce and that it will continue not making that thing, all in the name of saving its drivers cash. From the release: With per-gallon prices hovering around $4, customers are sensitive to every penny spent at the pump, and Ford Motor Company is leveraging technologies to help consumers avoid an even further hit to their wallets. Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, including luxury models like the all-new 2009 Lincoln MKS, run -- and run well -- on regular unleaded gas, a true competitive advantage given today's skyrocketing fuel costs.
Whether this is news or just some half-baked piece of public relations spin is beyond this forum's scope. But it does raise the endlessly debated topic of whether most cars, including high-end, $80,000 European luxury machines, actually need the high-test fuel that their user manuals so strenuously recommend.
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The hybrid scene has suddenly become hotter. This is Honda’s much-talked-about "Prius fighter," the Insight. Ten years on from the first vehicle to bear the name (that odd little two-seater), this is a proper five-door, five-seater model — just like the car it’s going up against.
