Categories: General
      Date: Nov 24, 2009
     Title: Insight Wins Japan Automotive Hall of Fame Car of the Year

The Committee of Japan Automotive Hall of Fame has named Honda's Insight hybrid vehicle its Car of the Year for 2009-2010.

The Insight's win marks the 10th occasion Honda has taken out the prestigious award - making Honda the most awarded recipient of the accolade since its inception in 1980.

The not-for-profit Committee of Japan Automotive Hall of Fame cited the following three factors in conferring the award on the Honda Insight:

The strategy of affordable pricing Honda used in marketing the hybrid Insight
The Insight's balance of driving performance and environmental performance
The balance of performance and fuel economy at cruising and higher speeds offered by Integrated Motor Assist (IMA), Honda's original hybrid system
Designed to set the standard of compact cars for a new era, the Insight combines outstanding environmental performance based on Honda's original hybrid system with a fun, responsive driving and an efficient, versatile packaging.

Enthusiastically received by customers when it was launched in Japan in April 2009, the Insight became the first hybrid vehicle in any country to achieve the status of the best-selling automobile among new vehicle registrations in a calendar month.

Offering customers exceptional fuel economy, the Insight features a newly developed hybrid system including a 1.3-litre i-VTEC engine and Honda's proprietary Integrated Motor Assist (IMA). To further support fuel-efficient driving, the Insight features the Ecological Drive Assist System (Eco Assist) as standard equipment on all models.

Previous Honda recipients of the Award are: the Honda Civic, which has won the Committee of Japan Automotive Hall of Fame Car of the Year award a record four times, closely followed by the Honda Accord’s three wins and the Fit's (marketed as the Jazz in New Zealand) two wins - the most recent of which was the 2007-08 award.