Honda to Expand Hybrid Lineup

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (Tokyo) will expand its lineup of hybrid cars by offering versions of its Accord sedan equipped with both gasoline engines and electric motors, as reported in a Japanese financial newspaper on June 8.Honda also plans to reduce the price premium charged for its Civic hybrid. The Insight, Honda's first hybrid car produced in 1999, costs 40 percent more than conventional autos.Honda has said that it would begin selling hybrid-power versions of its Civic compact by 2001 in Japan and later in other countries.According to the Japanese newspaper, Honda's new hybrids achieve 30 to 50 percent better fuel efficiency than conventional autos.