Earlier this year Toyota thought it would beat the Big Three and be the first to sell a hybrid-electric car in the American market with a car called the Prius. But like a bolt out of the blue, Honda surprised everyone by announcing it was going to beat them, and do it with a fuel economy rating that made everyone's jaw drop.
Automakers are under the gun to show how concerned they are about the environment.
They have vehicles that will run on alternate fuels. They have electric cars, and they're working on fuel cells. But the public is enamored with sport utility vehicles, trucks and high performance cars. They don't seem ready to experiment with cars that have lower performance, or limited driving range. So Honda is trying to change all that with a car called the Insight.