Honda Teases New Direction for Prototype Insight [News]

Honda Prototype Insight
[Photo: Honda]

After a five year reprieve, the Honda Insight will return in 2019.

When it first emerged on the automotive scene in 1999, the Honda Insight was a revelation. It was the first production car to integrate Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist – in short, its first hybrid production model. The funky looking, two-door Insight also beat the NHW11 Toyota Prius – the first U.S. version – to market by seven months. Honda featured optimized aerodynamics and lightweight construction into its first hybrid model? The goal? Maximum fuel efficiency. The original Insight achieved an EPA rating of 53 MPG combined – at the turn of the millennium, no less.

After a short break from 2006 to 2009, Honda produced a second generation Insight. The car was based on a five-door hatchback platform, similar to its nemesis, the then-wildly popular Prius. For awhile, it was the second best-selling hybrid behind the Prius, but the Toyota’s reputation stymied the Insight’s sales, and Honda pulled the plug in February 2014. Now, though, the Insight is back. Once again, it’s based on a new platform, and promises an upscale, sophisticated, spacious experience.

Enter Honda’s Prototype Insight

Here it is – the third album. This prototype Insight – slated for the 2019 model year – is now a five-door, five-passenger sedan. It’s slated above the Civic and below the Accord and impending Clarity in Honda’s lineup. Honda touts the Insight, among its other hybrid offerings, as a step toward realizing the Honda Electrification Initiative announced at last year’s North American International Auto Show.

Honda’s goal is to achieve two-thirds of its global sales in electrified vehicles by the year 2030. To that end, the prototype Insight shows off the next generation of the brand’s two-motor hybrid system. They’re claiming the new model is an entirely new approach in styling, packaging and features. Not just for the Insight, but for hybrids in general. At least that’s the impression you get when Honda makes its boldest claim of all: that the Insight will be “a hybrid vehicle without any inherent compromise.”

The Insight Prototype is set to debut at the upcoming NAIAS on January 15, 2018. Honda will produce the 2019 Insight alongside the Civic and CR-V at their Greensburg, Indiana plant.

TFLcar will cover the new Insight and other models on display at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Check back to TFLcar.com for more information! Subscribe to The Fast Lane Car and TFLnow on YouTube for live videos and impressions on the Insight and your favorite new models at the NAIAS!