LEAKED : 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid

Images of the 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid leaked onto the web today, and so we can sit down and talk about what the little production hybrid looks like.
While it's not a far cry from the Insight Concept shown at the Paris Motor Show, there are still a few noticeable changes. The front end design has lost the show car's LED lighting in favor of conventional halogen/hid units. The lower fascia has grown a pair of oddly placed fog lamps. Fortunately the happy grin of the concept remains as it should. The profile view remains similar in design, but loses the tiny mirrors and over-sized wheels of the show car. The biggest difference happens at the rear, where the tough look of the show car has been set aside for a more "productionized" look with proper bumpers and a larger rear glass opening.
At an expected price tag of 19,000$, this five-passenger, five-door Insight is expected to be the most affordable hybrid car available when it goes on sale in the spring of 2009. That should kick-off the new, ugly and expensive Toyota Prius.

Honda is set to officially reveal the production 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid at the Detroit Auto Show on January 11th. From then, Honda expects to sell 200,000 units per year - approximately 100,000 in North America - and will utilize a new interactive, driver-focused fuel economy enhancement technology named the Ecological Drive Assist System (Eco Assist™).