Honda takes aim at Toyota with new hybrids

The carmaker will bring out a hybrid version of its Fit model next year and the hybrid CR-Z sports coupe in February, chief executive Takanobu Ito told reporters yesterday in Tokyo.

The new vehicles will give Honda four hybrids in its lineup. Toyota introduced its third-generation Prius in May, overtaking Honda’s hybrid Insight as the best-selling gasoline-electric car in Japan.

“Applying the hybrid system to smaller vehicles will help Honda boost sales,’’ said Yoshihiro Okumura, who helps manage the equivalent of $365 million at Chiba-gin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. “Once the US market starts to pick up, they’ll be well-positioned.’’

Honda is also developing a new hybrid system to be installed in mid- to large-size vehicles. Hybrid versions of all of its models should be available within 20 years, Ito said.

Toyota, which aims to have hybrid versions of all its car models by 2020, plans to introduce four gasoline-electric hybrid models in Japan and three overseas by the end of March. It has plans for a hybrid that is smaller and cheaper than the Prius.

Honda expects global sales to drop 8.7 percent this fiscal year ending in March to 3.21 million vehicles, compared with 3.52 million units last fiscal year.

In Japan, where Honda has introduced its new Insight hybrid, sales could drop 0.2 percent to 555,000 units. Tax cuts and subsidies on fuel-efficient models are pushing up car sales in the domestic market. Sales in North America, its biggest market, could fall 9.8 percent to 1.35 million vehicles. A recovery in the market might come in the second half of next fiscal year, Ito said.

Industrywide sales in the United States might reach 10.5 million units in 2009, executive vice president Koichi Kondo said on April 28. That compares with an annual rate of 9.1 million units in February, the lowest since 1981.

Among future models, Ito said he would also like to bring to market an affordable, fuel-efficient sports car. In December, Honda said it axed development of a V-10-equipped successor to the NSX sports car sold in North America under the Acura brand.